New Beginnings
by Superworld
Summary: Barry's adventure to Earth-38 sparked feelings for Kara that he never saw coming but he had to leave to return to his Earth. Upon returning he has to fight Zoom in the hardest fight of his life and in the process almost everyone he cares for dies, leaving him shattered. What will Barry do with the broken pieces he is left in? Can Kara help put him back together? Kara and Barry
1. Chapter 1

First Chapter:

_National City_

Kara was on her way to Catco with Ms Grant's coffee in hand reflecting on the recent events in her life and how she could possibly be able to win back the trust of National city. As she walked into Ms Grant's office she handed her, her coffee and went to walk out to her desk.

"Aren't they exquisite?" Ms Grant asked.

Kara turned back realising that she was talking about the box of cupcakes on the desk. "I can see it in your eyes that you want one" Ms Grant continued, "but you're too scared, so instead you stand at a distance gazing longingly from a safe distance wishing you had one all of your own."

Ms Grant continued to explain how she wouldn't be able to get a cupcake unless she did something about it. Kara, confused, continued to listen until she realised that Ms Grant was actually talking about Jimmy. Kara tries to avoid the conversation but seeing an opportunity to gain advise on how to resolve her situation she asks for her boss's opinion.

Ms Grant tells her that in order to get Jimmy that she should make herself seem unavailable by finding another man. Kara acknowledges her suggestion then reaches across for a cupcake only to be rejected by Ms Grant then proceeds to rush out of the office in thinly veiled embarrassment at the conversation.

Kara returns to her desk and get back to work. Soon after she looks up hearing a commotion only to see Siobhan Smythe walking toward her. Ms Grant calls from her office for Kara to call security and as she does Kara stands up to talk to Siobhan and get her to leave peacefully.

As Kara does this Siobhan turns to her and screams, throwing Kara back and out through the window behind her.

_Central City_

Barry is in the labs talking with Wells, Cisco and Caitlin preparing to test out the new device they made from the schematics they got from The Reverse Flash. Wells walks up to Barry and attaches the Tachyon Device to his chest over his symbol telling him that it should increase his speed and give him at least an even standing against Zoom.

Cisco tells him that everything is ready to go for the test run and Barry gets into a ready position. As Barry gets ready to go, he feels the familiar sensation as the speedforce courses through his body but this time he feels a stronger connection to the power and when he moves, he can already tell he is going far faster than usual.

Cisco's voice sounds distant through the com as he yells about how fast he is going but Barry isn't listening as he races through the streets of Central. As he gets caught up in the feeling of running at this newfound speed and revels in the opportunity this gives him to defeat Zoom and fix what he believes was his own mistake, he doesn't notice the blue portal opening in the distance.

Distracted, Barry runs through the portal and finds himself in the middle of a city that seems off and is around late morning as opposed to the night he just left from in Central.

Without time to properly understand what's going on or slow down he sees a woman being thrown through a window of a nearby high-rise building that has the name Catco written across the top. He instantly races up the side of the building, catching the woman and before he can comprehend what's happening, he has already run out into the desert surrounding the city. Stopping, he puts down the woman only to realise her shirt is on fire.

"Oh my" Barry exclaims, "you're on fire!"

Despite the situation the woman doesn't seem shock and rather says that she needs to get back to the city before flying off back the way they came with her burnt clothes dropping down onto Barry.

Confused at what is happening and where he is Barry decides to follow the flying woman back towards the city in order to gain some idea of what's going on. As he runs, he sees the woman approaching the ground so redirects himself to stop where she lands.

As she lands, he gets his first proper look at her and notices she is in a costume with a cape, but he notices little else as he is caught up looking at her deep blue eyes and for an unknown reason he is captivated by the beautiful blonde before him.

She introduces herself as Supergirl, sounding as if he should clearly know who she is. Supergirl then asks what happened seeming confused on how he saved her and who he was.

Barry answered by explain how he run and caught her then brought her out to where they were by accident. Usually, at least when he is out as The Flash, Barry finds himself being confident but in the face of this new person he finds himself stuttering, and despite his confusion at the situation, he is nervous when talking to the beautiful woman before him.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Supergirl interrupts his stuttering with a confused look on her face.

"I'm the Flash" Barry responds but upon seeing her confusion he goes on to list other heroes such as black canary, Green arrow and A.T.O.M.

"er, I'm sorry I don't know any of these people" she answers.

Barry realises that the portal he travelled through led him to another Earth. Taking off his cowl he says, "not as sorry as I am. Hi, I'm Barry Allen, the fastest man alive, and I think I'm on the wrong Earth and I'm going to need your help"

As Kara falls from the Window and is caught by the strange man in red, she finds herself in a daze from the scream that had thrown her from the office. Confused she tries to figure out who the man is after landing and confronting him.

After saying a bunch of names that she doesn't understand the man reaches up and takes off his cowl explaining who he is and that he's lost and from another Earth.

Usually in a situation like this Kara would find herself even more confused and analyse the other person to see if they're a threat or not but in this case she doesn't. As the man, introduced as Barry takes off his cowl, she finds herself caught up in the man's handsome face and finds herself feeling an attraction that she hasn't felt before, even with Jimmy.

The handsome man asked for her help and despite knowing almost nothing about him she knows that she is going to help this man, so she asks him to meet her back at the office she left in her special room that's set up for Supergirl stuff.

Barry goes back to the building that she had been knocked from and when he arrives, she introduces herself as Kara Danvers, having gotten changed from her suit into clothes she had left at the office.

Barry uses the computer to figure out what is different about this world and tries to find Wells or Cisco but to no avail. As he stresses about what he's going to do two men walk into the office, one is a tall, bald and muscular black man and the other is a short Man who seems relatively lanky.

The men continue to explain what happened after Kara was thrown from the window and then proceed to question who he is and what he was doing there. Barry introduces himself and finds out that the black man is named James Olsen and the other is named Winn.

As he introduces himself Winn questions where he is from and reveals that Kara is an Alien. Kara looks away embarrassed not want the new man she met to dislike her for being an alien. Hearing no response, she turns back to see a smile for on his face and he begins excitedly questioning whether there's other aliens on this Earth.

See how Barry acts when finding out she is alien only results in her unknown sense of attraction to grow as he accepts her being an alien without any doubt or second guessing.

Barry continues by explaining the multiverse and how he is from a different universe and although he is telling all three, his attention is focused on Kara looking to see her reaction and what she thinks.

As Barry explains Winn jumps in adding that if someone were fast enough, they could theoretically open a portal to another universe.

Kara watches Barry with rapt attention, fascinated by this new person and wanting to know all she could about him. As Winn questions how he managed to get to their universe Barry responds by running from the room and returning shortly after and Kara finds herself and the other two with ice creams in hand.

Barry smiles as he sees Kara's face light up as she giggles and begins to eat the ice cream. Barry then explains how he got speed and how he managed to accidentally breach to their universe but is now stuck due to not knowing how to purposely create a breach.

Kara smiles and walks up to Barry placing a comforting hand on his shoulder reassuring him that she will help him any way she can. Kara feels herself heating up at the close proximity to Barry and blushes removing her hand.

Barry smiles back to her and seems to cheer up at the reassurance but gains a concerned face before explaining that he needs to consume at least 10,000 calories a day with an embarrassed face looking around nervously, afraid that Kara, the girl he has found himself captivated by, may think he's weird.

"You've met the right girl then" Winn exclaims.

Kara blushes as she looks at Barry asking whether he likes donuts.

"who doesn't?" Barry responds.

Kara smiles then grabs his hand instinctively and drags him with her to go and get donuts.

After being caught up whilst leaving in Ms Grants office on the way out and her deciding to name Barry's superhero alter ego, The Blur, Barry and Kara headed out and went into a nearby donut shop where Kara ordered two dozen donuts.

As Kara and Barry sat together at the donut shop, they discussed about their superhero experiences and what they have been doing recently. Both avoided talking about the big things like Zoom, the Red K experience and Non but found each other really easy to talk to.

Both heroes were enraptured by one another and despite neither knowing it themselves, it was obvious that the two had feelings for one another and they seemed as if they were at least close friends meeting up after a while apart.

After eating they both returned to Catco where Barry went to the Supergirl room to try and find a way back to his Earth, whilst Kara went back to her desk feeling excited about how amazing she found Barry and how close they were getting.

As she was at her desk organising her bosses schedule, she got a call from Lucy Lane, the temporary director of the DEO, that Livewire had escaped holding and was on the loose and likely coming for Cat Grant.

When Kara got off the phone, she rushed into Ms Grant's office and explained the situation suggesting for her to go someplace safe that she'd organise but instead her boss said she wouldn't hide and that if she needed it Supergirl would protect her.

As Barry was on the computer doing research whilst James and Winn were standing around the room, with Winn firing him questions every few seconds about his life, Kara came bursting through the door with a worried look on her face.

"I need your help" Kara said.

James responded thinking she was asking for him, but Kara clarified saying she was asking Barry for help. Kara explained the situation she was in and he National City needed the flash. Hesitant at first to take too long when finding a way back to his Earth Barry quickly conceded knowing that he'd do whatever it takes to help Kara although not quite understanding why.

Kara lit up as Barry said that he would help her and was excited that she would have the opportunity to work with Barry and she felt a strange feeling in her stomach like butterflies were in there as Barry smiled and shook her hand saying "partners" to which she responded in kind, shaking his hand.

After agreeing to help, Barry and Kara headed to the DEO facility with Winn were Barry ran around fascinated by everything there and even more thrilled when he found a space ship that Kara claimed was hers.

Kara was feeling even more weird emotions as she watched Barry run around thrilled by the place she worked and, although she didn't quite know why, Kara was happy that Barry liked the place she worked and was accepted by the people she worked with.

After introductions were over Barry explained how he protected people in both his day and night job as he was a CSI. Barry then got to work on using some of his skills to try and find Livewire whilst Kara and Winn watched as they talked about what his day job was like.

The algorithm soon found where Livewire likely was. As it sounded the notification Lucy and James, who had just come in and was talking to Lucy, came over and ask what was happening. Barry and Winn explained how they had found Livewire using the electricity levels in meters across the city.

Kara, seeing the opportunity to take down the threat as well as to impress the new speedster in town said that they should both get going to take her down.

"So, what's the plan?" Barry questioned.

"Take down the bad guy, lock her up where she can't hurt anyone. 85% chance of punching." Kara responded, looking to impress Barry and thinking given she took Livewire out once she could do it again.

After Barry questioning that they should have a proper plan of action but Kara saying it was too important that they act now and that they need to go, Barry follows Kara saying that it will be ok and that he trusts her.

Kara raced towards the warehouse as fast as she could wanting to impress Barry with her speed and arrived there just before Barry.

"For the record, I was here first" Kara told Barry. "For the record I went around the perimeter first to technically I was here first" Barry responded.

Enjoying the banter but looking forward to the fight the superheroes gets back on task looking around the warehouse for Livewire just before she comes out of a bunch of lights to form in the middle of the building in front of the two.

Barry says he's got this and races around the villain, building up power to then throw lightning in order to overload her although it doesn't go to plan as he charges her up only for her to throw the lightning back at Barry throwing him back up onto a wooden platform behind him.

Kara, seeing Barry hurt and worried for her new friend turns to Livewire and spots a sprinkler above her head and goes to set it off with her heat vision only to be stopped by a piercing scream. The pain forces Supergirl to kneel as she puts her hands on her ears, removing them when the sound ends, she finds blood on her fingertips.

Looking up she sees Siobhan who names her self the Silver Banshee saying that she will kill Supergirl then go on to get revenge on Cat and Kara for her loosing her job. Seeing the two together she goes to use her freeze breath and in joined by the Flash who uses his arms to create to mini tornados to join her in blowing away the two villains.

Knowing that they probably won't be able to get out of there Barry shouts to Kara saying that they can't win this now and that they need to leave. Kara agreeing the two heroes leave with Kara flying out through the roof and Barry running out the side of the warehouse.

Barry returned to Catco after passing through the DEO to grab his change of clothes. When he arrives, he sees Kara standing out at the balcony and walks out next to her.

"Hey, how're you doing?" Barry asks.

Kara looks up at Barry for a few seconds thinking what to say, "I'm sorry, I made you run in there without a plan, I didn't expect there to be two of them." Kara answers in a sombre tone.

"It's ok, it's what we've got to do, prepare for the unexpected."

"something happened to me a few weeks ago. I was exposed to this substance and it made me crazy, I did a lot of horrible things. When I was doing things as Supergirl I was so happy but now when I go out there no one wants my help. No that the people don't want to me to help them I feel so lost. I'm in such a rush to prove myself I'm making dumb mistakes like today"

"this will sound ironic coming from me but, sometimes you've just got to slow down. Keep up the good work and the people will come around, I promise."

"How can you be so sure?"

"because the same thing happened to me, when you stop trying to force the solution it will happen on its own."

Kara turn back to Barry, "I'm really sorry you're locked out of your world but I'm really glad you're here." Kara said.

"yeah, me too." Barry responds looking at her. A smile forms on both their faces and after a couple seconds they both blush and look away.

The two then headed off back to the DEO trying to find ways to defeat the two metahumans that they fought.

Back in the DEO Barry was explaining to Kara the ear pieces he whipped up to block the sound from Silver Banshee, explaining how he used things like this before to beat the Pied Piper.

As they finished Livewires face appeared on the screens across the wall and began taunting them telling them to come to national park or that they would kill Cat Grant.

"You don't have to do this Barry this is my fight." Kara tells Barry.

"one for all and all for…. You have the three musketeers here, right?"

"And all for one"

The two heroes run out of the DEO with Barry running alongside a flying Kara, following her into the city and to the park.

As the two turn up at the park thy see Livewire tormenting the public and them running away whilst the villains turn to threatening Cat Grant instead.

"hey, Shreaky, Livewire, what do you say we step away from the nice lady, settle this like women."

Kara turns to Barry confused, "what? There's more of you then there is me', Kara smirks and turns back to the criminals.

"kill them both" Livewire tells Silver Banshee as she goes and screams at the two of them.

"What happened? Lose your voice?" Flash taunts before Livewire goes and throws electricity at the two as Kara flies up out of the way as Barry runs around it and knocks the two apart.

As Livewire gets up, she enters the electronics through a nearby lamp and uses it to climb up a nearby building, Flash runs up the side of the building to keep up and confronts her as she reforms on the roof. Barry runs trying to knock her out but instead she hits him with a large blast of electricity which knocks him down and out.

Kara on the ground goes towards Cat and brakes off her cuffs, "took you long enough" Cat says.

"Seriously?" Kara responds before Silver banshee walks up behind her and turns her around and punches her in the face with enhanced strength knocking her back and down onto the grass. Getting up Kara punches the nearby pavement, breaking off a piece of concrete which she throws at Siobhan only for her to scream causing the projectile to shatter in the air into little more than dust.

Leslie appears next to Siobhan as she does this and notices a helicopter flying by yelling, "I hate helicopters" as she throws lightning at it. Seeing this Supergirl jumps into the sky to block the lightning from colliding with the helicopter but in doing so she is knock down to the ground between the enemies and the public.

Seeing this the public races forward and surrounds her. "Yesterday you were ready to string her up and now you willing to die for her?" Livewire questions. One of the people in the crowd responds saying, "she was willing to die for us"

"What say we thin the herd" Leslie says as she powers up her hands to shoot down the crowd before nearby firemen spray water onto her, electrocuting her and the nearby Siobhan taking them both down.

The crowd responds cheering, Barry who had been standing atop a nearby building and had left Kara to take the bolt he could have caught in order to gain the publics trust back, was smiling at the scene before him before racing down to meet Kara who had just stood up with a growing smile on her face. Barry then heads off with the local police to help them set up cells to hold the two criminals whilst Kara headed back to Catco.

Kara went out meeting Barry in the desert outside the city where he had brought them to earlier that day.

"You really think this is going to work?" Kara asks.  
"Well fighting livewire and Silver Banshee reminded me of something we did on my earth, you and I join forces, literally, we combine your speed with my speed, if you throw me forward at your highest speed then I might just break the dimensional barrier and get back home."

"What do you mean, Like a race?" Kara answers with a challenging smirk on her face.

"Yeah, I guess, think you can keep up Girl of Steel?" Barry responds to Kara's laughter.

The two heroes walk up to get started as Kara turns to Barry. "I'm really going to miss you Barry Allen." Kara says feeling the butterflies in her stomach as she looks at his face and feeling more sorrow at him leaving then she thought she should have given she's only known him for less than 24 hours.

"I'm really going to miss you too Kara Danvers, or Kara Zor-el which is your alien name, because you're an alien which I think is very cool." Barry says facing Kara and looking into her deep blue eyes.

The two are drawn closer to each other moving in as they look into each other eyes, before they know it their lips have met as Barry reaches up and cups Kara's cheeks as she does the dame to him. The kiss seems to last for hours to the two but only a few minutes later the two break apart with flushed faces but huge smiles.

"Sorry" Barry says, "I just couldn't resist, I know I'm going away but I couldn't help but kiss the amazing, beautiful woman I ended up catching out a window this morning" Barry says rubbing the back of his neck.

Kara looks at him with a beaming smile on her face despite her embarrassment. "It's ok I feels the same way, I don't know what it is about you, but I feel more emotions with you then I've ever felt before" Kara didn't know what was happening but she knew when she kissed the man in front of her that fireworks exploded inside her and she felt a spark like no other pass between them that had nothing to do with their powers.

Barry's face lit up again with a broad grin and the two moved back in kissing once again but not for as long before pulling back and giving each other a tight hug. Despite the discomfort Barry doesn't want the hug to end but it does as Kara steps back blushing realising she wasn't managing her strength and accidentally damaged Barry's ribs.

Barry smiled regardless, "It hasn't been long since I met you but I have strong feelings for you too Kara but I'm going away and I don't know if I'll ever return so I think you should know, I'm pretty sure James Olsen also feels the same way and whilst my advice for going slow is good for superheroes it isn't for two people who really like each other" Barry struggled to say this feeling like he was giving away the chance at something he really wanted.

Kara blushed looking down at her feet but despite her reaction she found that since Barry came, and, in his presence, she hadn't had a single thought of Jimmy who had previously plagued her thoughts. She found herself feeling more for Barry then she ever had for Jimmy and didn't want to lose him, almost tearing up at the thought of her new friend, and maybe more, going away forever.

Pushing away these feelings she responded, "Yeah, maybe" before pulling the Scarlett Speedster into another tight hug before backing off and subtly wiping at her eyes and turning to face where they would run.

"Let's do this Flash"

Despite feeling similar despairing emotions Barry turns to her and smirks, "Lets see who's really faster Danvers".

The two run off and at their top speeds Barry turns to her and gives her one last smile before she reaches across and throws him forward and through the breach that had formed before them before stopping on the ground before the breach that had already closed.

Staring at the empty space a tear drips from Kara's eye, "I'll miss you Barry, I really will because I think I'm already falling for you".

Kara turns back and flies off towards her apartment where she wishes she could talk to Alex about what happened and trying to figure out what she's going to do or if there is anything to be done at all.

As Kara falls asleep on her bed in her super suit her last thought she had is that she'd try to move past him, but she'd still count the days till the Flash runs back into her life.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

**Time skip (same as TV series) until after Henry Allen was killed by Zoom**

_Central City_

It feels like over a year ago when he was on another Earth and completely infatuated with the Blonde heroine, he found there but it has only been a couple weeks. Barry is in his apartment sitting on the couch staring out the window at the lit up surrounding city as rain poured down drumming on the window. As he sits there he reflects on the recent turn in his life, after only just getting his father back he was brutally murdered in front of his very eyes and Barry wasn't fast or strong enough to stop it.

Furthermore, he had recently lost his powers to Zoom only to get them back later after being forced by the speedforce to confront his own mothers death again. With Zoom having taken his previous power he has become even more powerful and is getting faster and faster, being slower already Barry was losing hope of ever succeeding and being able to protect the city.

Despite the success of the sonic amplifier and the team being able to get rid of the Earth-2 metahuman army Barry was struggling to see any recent events as anything remotely similar to a win.

Rather than continue sitting around and mourning the loss of his father Barry decided that he wouldn't allow anyone else to be harmed so he put his suit on and went out to train, to get faster so he wouldn't fail again.

For the next few weeks Barry spent all his spare time when not working or helping people in the city running around the city working on his speed, whilst Zoom hadn't made a reappearance yet Barry was in a bad shape barely eating enough or sleeping enough.

Despite being encouraged by Joe, Iris, Caitlin and Wells to do something about his current state of living Barry couldn't get past the fact that he needed to be faster so others wouldn't die. Using the Tachyon device and through his recent training Barry already managed to improve his speed to a little over mach 20 and is currently almost able to match the top speed of Zoom when he last visited.

As Barry raced around the outskirts of Central City, a couple hours into the night after having helped people out of a housefire and put out the fire, he had turned off his com after Caitlin had been trying to convince him to get rest and telling him he need to eat more. As he ran through a park on his way around he noticed a blue streak of lightning cross in front of him and head into the nearby forest.

Knowing that the only thing that it could have been was Zoom, Flash ran to follow. As he swerved in and out between the trees only catching a glance of a blue streak in the distance Barry sped up going faster then he had before, the sonic booms created by his increasing speed knocking down trees as he passed leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

Soon he found himself in the middle of a moonlit clearing and had lost the trail of blue lightning and not being able to see the black clad monster in the dark. As Barry peered around the clearing he heard the snap of a twig behind him, spinning around to come face to face with the man who had been haunting his every thought.

"Hello, Bartholomew" Zoom rasped as he approached.

"Hunter, what is it you've come for now? I won't allow you to hurt anyone else"

"I've found myself enjoying felling the great Flash and so in pursuit of this joyous enterprise I have developed a plan on how to truly destroy you Allen. I am going to fight you and upon your defeat I shall take one of the people closest to you, I will keep coming back until there is no one left for you and when you are truly defeated I shall end your misery and then take this world as my prize"

Rage filled Barry as Zoom taunted him and threatened those he held dear. In his anger he let out a scream of pure hatred and rushed at Zoom. The two speedsters began racing through the forest as they traded blows whilst leaving scorched trees and ripped up dirt in their wake as they let off more electrical energy than ever before.

Despite Barry moving faster than ever before Zoom had gotten even faster and had more fighting skills leaving Barry to take the most blows. Reappearing in the clearing Barry was thrown to the ground, and as he lifted himself up blood dripped from his face as it flowed from his broken nose and shattered jaw. Upon closer inspection it could be seen that Barry was bleeding from many other points across his body with other broken bones whilst Zoom, with some injuries, was still in a much better shape.

As Barry stood in the middle of the clearing obviously exhausted and with little fight left, Zoom raced around him only to stop seconds later and throw two bolts of lightning which struck him in the chest, knocking Barry back to the edge of the clearing.

Before passing out from the damage done to his body, Barry felt as if his chest had be struck by a freight train and he knew any ribs previously unbroken were now surely so.

As Barry came to in a puddle of blood in the middle of the clearing he noticed the sun slowly rising. Through his bleary vision he could make out the destroyed forest that surrounded him. As he slowly gained more awareness he noticed the huge pain he could feel through his entire body and the warm, red liquid surrounding him.

In an instant the events of last night came to him and initially Barry was filled with anger at having lost again although this was quickly replaced by fear as he remembered the words of Zoom _"upon your defeat I shall take one of the people closest to you"_.

Pushing through the pain Barry pushed himself to his feet, his brain first went to Joe and Iris, the people who had become his family in all but blood, as he raced as fast as he could back to the home, that until recently he had been sharing with joe and had grown up in. When he arrived he noticed the door slightly opened.

Filled with fear Barry slowly approached the door and lightly pushed it open. As he entered Barry was overwhelmed by a sense of dread seeing the furniture in the living room soaked in blood. He raced past the couch to find Joe's lifeless corpse spread on the ground. Falling to the ground Barry let out a chilling scream, a mix of his anger and despair being let out the only way he could.

Not knowing where Barry was after he didn't respond to Cisco's text last night, asking him to come hang out in hopes that he could help Barry recover, Cisco had tracked his suit to Joe's place and was heading there now.

When he arrived he pulled up getting out of his car and noticing the door had been left wide open. He slowly walked forward and as he passed through the door it was as if his worst fears had come to life. Barry and Joe's bodies were lying across the ground both sitting in pools of their respective blood. Racing over to Barry who looked beat to hell in his torn up Flash suit Cisco pulled the cowl from his face to notice that he was breathing.

Panicking but slightly relieved Cisco pulled out his phone calling Caitlin.

"Cait, you need to get to STAR right now and prepare for surgery, Barry's hurt bad I'll meet you there and explain later" Cisco rushed out as Caitlin Picked up.

Knowing the urgency of the situation and not doubting Cisco for a moment Caitlin, who had been relaxing and having a lazy morning planning to head to STAR later, raced down to her car and headed to STAR as fast as she could.

As Cisco hung up the call to Caitlin he ran over to Joe, feeling his neck for a pulse, as Caitlin and shown him to do, and listened for his breath. Finding neither, Cisco acknowledged that Joe was gone although surprising himself he didn't even feel anything at this moment knowing that he had to focus on Barry and make sure that he is ok.

In a feat of strength for the mechanical engineer he lifted Barry up and carried him out and into the back seat of the car then got in himself and raced to STAR where he met Wells outside who helped him lift Barry up and take him to the medical bay.

Caitlin gasped at the state of Barry as he was carried in by Wells and Cisco and placed on the bed. Knowing what she had to do Caitlin quickly composed herself and got to work on closing Barry's larger wound and then moving onto setting his bones. She wished she could give him a blood transfusion but he couldn't take others blood due to his meta-gene and the blood they had of his own for situations like this had been used up after Zoom broke his back and almost left him for dead.

Cisco sat down at the console outside the med bay in the cortex covered in Barry's blood and staring off into the distance, shocked and frightened at the situation he has found himself in. Wells sat across from him in a similar state. As they sat there they could hear Caitlin working on Barry through the open door to the medical wing.

Caitlin was doing her best to patch Barry back up and if it weren't for the increase in his healing abilities over the past few weeks of his training he would have already been gone. After several hours of work she finally managed to get out of the rough and get him stable, exiting the med bay she gave a sigh of relief and in response to Wells and Cisco's questioning looks she gave a weak smile and thumbs up as she collapsed into a chair next to them.

After sitting in silence for a few minute Cisco coughed gaining their attention then proceeded to explain the situation he had found Barry in as well as what had happened to Joe. The other two given the shock they were already in couldn't form a response to this and an unspoken agreement was come to that they'd wait for Barry to awaken to give them answers.

Several hours later Barry woke up and despite his new and improved healing and Caitlin's medical expertise he was still very sore with his body and bones barely beginning to properly heal. Groaning he gained the attention of Wells, Cisco and Caitlin who had been surrounding his bed looking exhausted, slumped over in their chairs. As they heard Barry the three looked up to see him awake and looking back at them.

As they began to talk Barry explained all that had happened although his voice was hollow and it almost sounded as if he had given up. The three were even further shocked and given a new sense of fear at all Barry had told them and of Zoom's threats.

Barry tried to move off the bed after the information had sunk into the three listeners only for Caitlin to stand up and gently push him back down telling him that if he wanted to beat Zoom he had to rest and be in his best possible shape.

After going back to sleep for a couple hours Barry woke again, noticing as he looked through the slanted skylights in the roof that the sun was beginning to set. Getting up and out of his bed Barry found that despite being sore that he had at least healed enough to get to his feet. Walking out of the med bay Barry was confronted by Caitlin who told him he needed more rest.

"Iris needs to know" Barry responded to Caitlin in a defeated tone.

"We'll tell her together then but she's coming here, you still need rest Barry." Placing a comforting hand on his shoulder Caitlin continued, "I know we've taken a lot of hits but we'll get through this Barry, together."

Barry smiled weakly and despite the situation he found himself feeling slightly more reassured and stronger knowing he still had his team by his side.

After messaging Iris asking her to come to STAR, Caitlin and Barry sat at the console in the cortex, Cisco and Wells having come out to see him but returning to their labs. As they sat there Barry processed the thing that had happened and began to accept what had happened to Joe and Henry already knowing that the only way to fix this was to get better and defeat Zoom when he came back.

Iris walked into the cortex soon after and as she saw Barry's face her features were morphed into a face of concern seeing his battered form. She rushed over asking what had happened, knowing there was no easy way around this the two explained to Iris what had happened and how Joe had been killed. Iris was angered by what had happened and despair grew in her as she found out that her father had been killed. Iris was usually strong but receiving this news she broke down and was then comforted by Caitlin and Barry as she began to mourn the loss of her father.

Knowing that Barry must have been taking this hard and probably blaming himself, Iris turned to him and told him, "Barry, this isn't your fault and together we'll beat this monster, I'm not ready to give up and I don't think you are either."

The next few days were used for Barry to recover from the fight whilst Wells and Cisco worked to repair the Tachyon device that had been broken in the fight and Caitlin fussed over him making sure to keep him off his feet and not allowing him to train.

After this when Barry had fully recovered, he began training harder then ever before, working to up his speed to greater heights, whilst the Tachyon Device hadn't been repaired yet he had still broken mach 12 without it. After the almost endless hours of lectures he received from Cait whilst on bed rest he had begun eating better and getting more sleep although since getting better almost a week ago he hadn't gone back to work instead deciding to focus entirely on training.

A couple days later Cisco and Wells had finished another tachyon enhancer for him to use after the destruction of the last one, so the four of them on team flash stood there whilst Barry attached it to his chest. Barry still hadn't told the others about the other Earth he went to or about Kara, given he'd only left for seconds they had no suspicions. Barry didn't know why but he felt like he wanted to keep Kara to himself and that if he told everyone then they would tell him that he'd never see her again. Many times when he tried to go faster he thought of Kara, and that if he went faster maybe one day he would be able to see her again.

Wells broke him out of his thoughts, "Time to test this out."

"Good luck Barry, don't push yourself too far" Cait added, her voice full of concern.

At the prompting from his team Barry turned and ran down into the pipe line, feeling the similar feeling of the device on his chest tapping into his power and charging it up. Once Barry entered the pipeline he began running laps speeding up every time, despite feeling himself running faster then ever before he found that the tachyon device wasn't boosting him as much as it had previously.

Returning to the cortex Barry found Cisco hyping out, "Barry that was amazing you went almost mach 27."

"I know but it didn't feel the same. Wells is this the same as the last device?"

"Yes, exactly, I'll have a look over data and the device and get back to you ASAP on whether there is an issue." Wells said as he took the device from Barry's chest and walked out of the cortex towards his lab.

"Barry, with how fast you were going Zoom won't even stand a chance!" Cisco exclaimed.

"I wish, last time I fought him I was faster then I had ever been and he was still faster, I don't think this will be nearly as easy as you say it will be" On that morbid note Barry departed the labs back to his apartment.

After spending the next morning training rigorously Barry was called up to the cortex by Caitlin. When Barry arrived he found Caitlin standing at the screens that were focussed on the pipeline before she whipped around having felt the rush of wind that accompanied his entrance. As she turned around Barry noticed she was holding a cup with what looked like a milkshake in it, knowing that Caitlin usually tried to eat healthily Barry's curiosity was sparked.

"Hey Barry, I've been doing some work in my labs to make this" Caitlin said as she held up the shake, "It's a special protein shake I developed for you that is stronger then normal ones and also includes other vitamins in order to keep your body in peak condition. This should help you in your training to maximise your efficiency although, and I stress this, it doesn't replace your normal diet so you still need to eat almost as much as you normally would" Caitlin explained with a stubborn glare.

Barry conceded to Caitlin's conditions and took the offered cup, draining the contents with haste, almost spluttering it up upon the strong taste it had but swallowing it down to avoid insulting Caitlin and because he'd do almost anything at this point to beat Zoom.

Returning to his training he found as he worked for the rest of the afternoon he was improving at a slightly faster rate, having reached mach 13 by the time he stopped for the day. Returning to the cortex to put the suit back on the stand as this was his training suit and his other one was destroyed when he previously fought Zoom.

As he turned to leave he saw Harrison entering the room and waited to see if he had anything to say.

"I've finished analysing the data I collected and the device and have both good and bad news" Harry began as he approached. Barry beckoned him to continue, "The bad news, the tachyon device is the same as before and the issue you thought about not powering you as much is apparent and likely irreparable. The good news though is why this is happening, it seems that as you have trained rather then just drawing more power you are using the power more effectively meaning even with the same amount of power you are able to go faster. It is likely that as you improve further the tachyon device will become less and less effective until it is obsolete. This is good though as I have seen that since getting your powers back this improvement is happening at a more accelerated rate than before, from what I have seen it is unclear how fast you could eventually go but all I know is that your speeds one day could quite possibly be greater than mach 100 or even more."

"Whilst that may be good news Wells it doesn't help if I can't improve in time to face Zoom so all it means is right now as I get faster I am only improving my top speed minimally due to the decreasing effect of the device". Barry responded with a tone of defeat.

"Not entirely, as we now know that your speed doesn't just increase from the drawing of more power but the use of this power you can focus on how you allow the power to flow through you in order to increase your speed at a greater rate.

"Ok, lets get training then." Barry raced down to the pipeline as Wells sat at the console as they began working together with Wells offering ideas and encouragement as Barry put this to use.

By the end of the week, a couple days later, Barry had increased his speed impressively, now being able to reach mach 22 without the tachyon device, and over mach 30 with it. Barry, and the teams as a result's emotions had made a turn for the better as they could make out a light at the end of the tunnel and truly began to believe once again that they could do this and defeat Zoom once and for all.

This all changed when a blue flash of lightning began lighting up through the streets of Central Monday evening. Upon seeing it Barry raced from the cortex where he and the team had been after putting his suit on. This time, remembering some of the training Oliver had given him, Barry was more strategic in his approach, pushing down his anger and other related emotions Barry surveyed the situation before racing down in front of Zoom to confront him after assuring himself that there was no elaborate trap.

As Zoom stopped before him the first thing Barry heard was his rasping and crackling laughter before he stopped and began to torment Barry, talking of how he had killed Joe and Henry, and how soon another would be added to the list. Barry tried to supress his rising anger but failed as Zoom threw verbal jabs at him. In his anger Barry rushed forward and attacked Zoom. As the fight began Barry held the upper hand having landed the first blow to Zoom's face although, as the fight continued and they raced through the city and out into the surrounding land, Barry soon lost his advantaged to Zoom's superior speed, strength and fighting skills. Barry was being pounded relentlessly by superfast volleys of punches and kicks that he failed to block. Running back to put a space between the two and gain a short break, Barry was breathing hard and his body was riddled with scrapes and cuts along with other injuries like fractured and broken bones that were hidden from view, despite Zoom once again not looking in peak condition it was evident that he was far better off than Barry.

"You can run away now Barry, preserve your strength for our next fight, I'll be killing all your loved ones either way regardless." Zoom baited.

"Go to hell!" Barry yelled, re-engaging Zoom as they continued to battle for all they were worth. In the end Barry was left in a clearing, that had been scorched by the energy the two had given off as lightning as they fought, lying in the centre once again bleeding and battered to the point that had he been human he would already have been down.

As Barry lost his consciousness Barry heard Zoom taunt him, "Another one to bury Barry, when will you learn and surrender to me, you must know by now it is the only way?". Zoom left the clearing in a flash of lightning as Barry's sight faded to black.

**Time skip, 3 months later**

First it was Iris, then Wells, then Cisco and finally Caitlin. Barry fought Zoom again and again, the fights were more powerful and devastating every time as larger and larger areas outside of Central City were destroyed each time they fought. Barry only ever stopped training to get the sleep he needed and recover when he had to after a fight. He had lost the tachyon device after Zoom had killed Wells and Cisco was left unable to repair the shattered pieces or build a new one. After loosing Cisco Barry was almost ready to give up everything, he had suffered so much in his life and couldn't bare to loose anymore but Caitlin talked to him and convinced him that they wouldn't ever give up, that he would fight for all those that he had lost and that he would fight for her as well. What Caitlin didn't know was the other reason that convinced Barry he had to keep going, Kara, She would have told him to keep fighting, She wouldn't want him to give in, so he didn't. The thought of the superpowered blonde drove Barry to become even faster and stronger then he ever imagined he could have been. When Barry went to fight Zoom the last time he had broken mach 50 and was able to charge his punches with the kinetic energy around him to give him even more strength in his blows. Barry and Caitlin had found using Wells research that even if Barry had of recovered a tachyon device somehow that at this point it would have practically zero effect. Despite everything that he had to go through Barry was confident that finally he would be able to finish off Zoom once and for all and then he could mourn those he lost and try and rebuild himself. This all came crashing down as after over 5 and a half hours of nonstop fighting Barry was once again left pummelled on the ground with Zoom looming over him.

After Barry had awoken, he found himself face to face with Zoom where he had told Barry that now he was completely alone as Barry saw the mangled and bloodied corpse of Caitlin behind Zoom. Unable to deal with anymore loss Barry had barely had any emotional response at the time and only vaguely remembered Zoom telling him that he would leave Barry for a while so he could truly suffer all he lost before he would return and put him out of his misery.

After Zoom had left Barry had sat in that spot staring at Caitlin for hours before bringing himself together as much as he could. Upon doing this he found out that he was in the cortex at S.T.A.R labs, Barry moved into the medical wing and treated his wounds, with the medical knowledge he had learnt from Caitlin and his greatly increased healing, after having treated himself and falling unconscious for around 5 hours Barry found that he was completely healed of the broken bones, fracture, cuts and other wounds he had suffered in the fight.

Numbly, Barry walked from the medical bay, lifting Caitlin's body he ran out to the forest clearing outside the city where all the other bodies of his friends had been buried. Returning to the lab afterwards still in a dazed state, Barry repaired all the damage that had been done to his suit, though he didn't bother repairing the sensors as he faintly registered that no one was there to track him anymore.

Now, Barry was sitting on his bed at his apartment as everything that had happened seemed to hit him like a train. After months of effort and dedication he had completely lost, he had nothing left, no family, no friends, nothing. Barry confined himself to his apartment for almost a week crying and weeping over all he had lost and finally loosing all drive to try. Barry accepted that he had lost, he had barely eaten anything over these days, only doing so when he found he absolutely had to, and at this point there was no food left in his apartment and he had no intention to go and get more seeming perfectly content in starving himself to death. Barry barely slept and the little amount he did have came as no relief as he was plagued by nightmares where he relived all he had gone through, finding his friends dead after loosing over and over to Zoom not being able to stop it every time it happened, again and again. This went on until at the end of almost two weeks as Barry drifted into what would likely be another plagued and fruitless sleep only to be confronted by something else entirely.

As Barry drifted to sleep, he found himself in the middle of a unknown city, although it did have a vague sense of familiarity to him, in the middle of a sunny day in a park. As Barry looked around he could see people with smiles on their faces, some children were playing on the playground in the park whilst parents watched on with rapt attention, other families sat and ate together enjoying the peaceful day, there were many more people milling around going about their days but the common theme was the happiness each of them emanated. Then it all came crashing down as a strange looking humanoid figure with what seemed to be a bionic eye walked forward and out of the strange eye shot a laser beam towards some of the people around him. The person seemed to be causing this havoc for no other reason than self-entertainment.

As people ran from the creature Barry stood there observing the situation, unable or unwilling to move, he didn't know, but as he stood there he saw as people ran from this maniac for their lives. Just as it seemed like the person would begin killing the people as they ran from him a blue and red blur dropped from the skies and landed before the creature. As the commotion settled a very familiar blonde woman would be seen confronting the person and as she tried unsuccessfully to talk him out of what he was doing in vain hope that he would hand himself in, Barry could tell that Supergirl had given up talking him down and was prepared to take him down.

"I guess we do it the hard way then, I won't let you hurt my city" Supergirl announced.

"What is it to you, you're like me, we're aliens, we don't have to put up with these petty humans" The man argued.

"Because I'm a hero, I protect those who can't protect themselves and I won't stop until I physically can't be a hero because that's who I am." Supergirl responded before rushing toward the man and engaging him in a fight. The fight didn't last long with the man being knocked unconscious by Supergirl and the DEO coming up soon after and taking the man where he will probably be locked up by them fore terrorising the public using his powers.

As the scene seemed to come to an end Barry found himself waking up to the early morning rays of light that shone through the partially drawn curtains across his body that was sprawled across his bed. As Barry fully woke up, he thought about what he'd seen and came to a conclusion. Despite not knowing if what he saw was real or not it did inspire him, he wouldn't give in, he would fight until he physically couldn't, if Zoom defeated him, he wouldn't make it easier and he'd do everything in his power to make sure Zoom would be able to hurt anyone else.

Barry made his way out of his bedroom and for the first time since he returned to his apartment, he acknowledge the mess it was, using his speed he cleaned the apartment and got changed before running out to a café where he ordered breakfast and ate a proper meal or the first time in a long time. As he ate Barry considered his options, he knew to beat Zoom he would need to be better, he would need to train harder then ever before. By the time Barry had finished his food he had finally decided what the next step would be, and how he would finally become strong enough to defeat Zoom.

**30 minutes beforehand**

_Starling City_

Oliver is sitting in the arrow cave that lies beneath his mayoral office thinking about all the things that have come to pass recently. Laurel's death had hit him hard but he had come to accept that and believes after being able to bring Darhk down once and for all he could be at peace, despite this he and Felicity's troubles didn't help to ease his mind. This all is added to by all that Diggle was going through after the death of his brother Andy as well, meaning his team wasn't doing all to well. Thea was still going out with him regularly to keep the city safe and the city was behind him now more than ever after the speech he had given and the fight he had against Darhk but Oliver still found that he was almost more alone now than before everything with Darhk.

As Oliver was thinking he realised that he should go see Barry but then remembered that in all the mess with Darhk he had forgotten about the news that Felicity had told him she had heard about fights with another speedster like him in Central that had been going on for months. At the time Oliver had wanted to go and help Barry as he saw him as the little brother he had never had and wanted to be there for him, but he had, had too much on his own hands at the time. Filled with a new sense of worry Oliver logged onto the nearby computer and looked at the recent news, what he found had him even more concerned. It seemed that every few weeks another fight had occurred between the two speedsters but had been run out of the city every time and the media was just as unsure as he was about the result, although what Oliver new was that Barry hasn't been able to get rid of him which then had Oliver worrying about what had happened for them to have kept fighting over and over with no apparent victor.

Oliver decided he was going to head over to Central City to check up on his friend in red, so he started calling Thea, Felicity and Diggle, telling them that he'd be gone and where he was going. He then moved to pack away his suit in a case to take with him and was about to head out to go to his apartment to grab some clothes when a bright flash lit up the cave. As the light died down, in its place stood the man Oliver had been going to see.

"Barry, I was just heading out to go see you in Central. What are you doing here, is something wrong?" Oliver asks.

"Oliver, it's all gone" Barry said solemnly.

"Barry, what happened?" In response Barry spent the next few hours explaining everything that had happened with Zoom, confessing to Oliver all the fears he'd held within the last few months. It would be an understatement to say that Oliver was shocked, it broke his heart to see the man he considered a brother in such pain whilst he'd had no idea what was going on.

After Barry finished explaining, Oliver was left wondering; how was Barry still holding himself together, how was Barry going to survive when Zoom, the man that had defeated him numerous times, was just waiting to end him? "Barry what are you going to do?"

"For a long time, I've been pushing myself to be faster to out speed Zoom, then after everyone was gone, I gave up, I gave up on myself and on being the Flash, but now I know what I have to do. I need to be the hero other people saw in me, I won't give up, I'm going to defeat Zoom."

"Barry, I'll do anything you need to help you, but I really don't see how I can help"

"That's the thing Oliver, it's your help I need. I need you to train me to fight better then anyone else. In the past few months I figured, like I do with my movement speed, I can train to increase my neural speed, so I can learn faster and think faster. Even if I can match Zoom's speed, which I need to work to, I need to be able to fight him and I don't know anyone else to teach me. Also, I need to work on my strength, my powers increase my physical capabilities, but I can still become stronger like anyone else. So, what do you say?"

"It sounds like a plan, I'm in but this won't be easy, if I'm training you, I'm going to make sure you will beat whatever comes your way."

"That's what I need." Barry responds with a smile that doesn't quite reach his haunted eyes.

Oliver thinks about how he can best train Barry before coming across an idea. "Barry, I would rather teach you myself, but I am an archer and for you to be the best you need to be trained by the best. I don't have the greatest relationship with her, but Nyssa Al Ghul is the best, we need to go see her."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, sorry for taking so long for this chapter, **

**Before we get to the story I'd like to thank you all for the support and for the reviews, the reception had been great and encouraged me to write more,**

**So, without further ado...**

Chapter 3:

_Star City_

Oliver and Barry are just leaving Oliver's place now, getting into the back of a black Mercedes Oliver had a driver for, after having gotten some of Oliver's stuff for the trip they were going on. As they were driven to an off the grid, ex-military airport site Oliver was messaging some of his contacts to finalise the flights he had planned and texting Felicity, Thea and Diggle that he had to leave on important business for an undetermined amount of time. As they pulled up onto the tarmac in front of an old military cargo plane the door was opened by the driver as they got out of the car. They headed over to the plane where Oliver greeted an old friend of his from his time running operations with ARGUS who would be flying the plane for us.

As they boarded the plane through the bay door, we found the bay was almost completely empty, the pilot continued into the cockpit as Oliver and Barry deposited the bags of their gear and supplies before sitting in two of the chairs that lined the walls of the bay. The Bay door soon closed as the plane began to orient itself with the runway before picking up speed to take-off. Barry would usually never fear flying in a plane as he understood the physics and general mechanics around it enough to trust the machine although this couldn't be said as they sped down the runway. As they gained speed the strain on the engines could already be heard as the bay was filled with sounds of rattling metal and the plane shuddered as it lifted painfully slowly into the air.

Barry calmed himself quickly though, after all he had been through recently, he had quickly learnt to quash his fears when they surfaced. As the plane levelled out as they began their journey Barry began asking Oliver about where they were going and who Nyssa was. Barry already had a basic idea having talked to Oliver more frequently prior to the Zoom fiasco but still had many questions that he needed answers too. The next few hours were filled as Oliver answered Barry's questions along with Barry explaining all about what had been happening and everything, he knew about Zoom and the other Earth.

As the flight continued and day dragged on into night the two had laid across the harsh metal floor on the thick scratchy woollen blankets that Oliver had packed them. Upon awakening, still within the rattling metal box, to the harsh rays of light filtering through the dusty scratched windows that lined the sides of the cargo bay, Oliver and Barry got up and Oliver decided that they may as well get started on training already.

Ordering Barry up Oliver attacked him without warning throwing his fist into the brunette's face with a resounding crack. "What the hell Oliver, what are you doing?" Barry exclaimed.

"You have superspeed, yet I am still able to hit you in the face, get up you'll heal soon enough. Your training starts now, you are going to fight me without using your speed until we get there, every time you get hurt or tired and fall, you'll do 1000 push-ups at superspeed and get back up to fight me. Understood?"

Barry's shocked and affronted features settled into a determined grimace as he rose to his feet wiping away the blood from his nose on his pants and getting into a fighting stance. He had committed to this and he would make sure he does everything in his power to stop Zoom, not just for revenge but because it is what Kara would do.

For the next 10 or so hours the two sparred, Barry couldn't even remember how many times he had been struck down, but he could feel his muscles burning without him even having been using his speed to fight Oliver. Every time Barry fell, he would do the push-ups and get back to his feet, and if anything looked more determined than last. Oliver obviously outmatched Barry's skill although as the hours drew on, he began to take more hits but didn't let them falter him as he relentlessly pushed Barry further and further. Each time he would knock Barry down Oliver would swallow any bad feelings he felt for what he was doing to the person he considered a brother and harshly barked to him what his faults were and how to improve them.

Oliver knew that he could teach Barry in a nicer way, but they didn't have the time for such things, Oliver understood the time pressure and knew he would do whatever it takes to get Barry ready no matter how much it hurt Barry because this was what he needed, not what he deserved.

By the time they made a rough landing on an airstrip just outside Kabul, Afghanistan, the rough hard metal of the cargo bay was splattered with blood from various wounds that Barry had suffered during their training. Wanting to push Barry further Oliver had him run alongside the dinged-up hummer that they were taking to the Hindu Kush mountain range without a break. As they drove/ran across the rough terrain Barry would occasionally trip and fall due to his tiredness while Oliver would shout at him and he would get back up and keep going. Oliver decided that he would like to build up Barry's strength and resilience before travelling into Nanda Parbat, so he drove them to a remote area and they set up a camp there.

"What are we doing here, i thought we were going to this Nanda Parbat place?" Barry asked as he flopped down onto the ground once camp was set up, utterly exhausted.

"I decided you need a bit more training before we head there so, here we are." Oliver said.

After allowing Barry to rest for a while Oliver got him up and informed him that they would be hunting for their food. Handing Barry a rough makeshift bow and a few arrows Oliver began explaining how to shoot and how to hunt animals before being interrupted.

"Why do I need to know this, it won't help defeating Zoom." Barry questioned.

"It will by honing your senses, when hunting you need to be aware of all that is around you and to shoot accurately you must take account of all foreign factors in the environment. Hunting for yourself is also an important survival skill anyway." Oliver responded before continuing his instructing.

Upon finishing his instructions Oliver sent Barry off into the woods to hunt for his dinner with orders that he wasn't to return until he had successfully caught himself food for dinner.

Hours later Barry stumbled back into the campsite with a rabbit that he had caught in hand only to see Oliver eating the two rabbits he had already caught, prepared and cooked. Grumbling, Barry got to preparing the rabbit following Oliver's instructions throughout. Finally, as midnight approached Barry had finished his food and retired to sleep on the ground under the tarp they had hung between a few trees with ropes.

Over the next few days each morning Barry would get up and begin the day by hunting and foraging for his breakfast, after that he would have to train relentlessly with Oliver without using his speed and avoid the traps, he would set up in random positions around the forest throughout. At around 2 in the afternoon Barry would then eat some of what he had collected that morning for his lunch, afterwards he would run along with Oliver whilst he drove the car, around the mountain range for hours on end without a break until the sun had fully set. Once the sun had set Barry would once again be tasked with hunting his own dinner and preparing and cooking it before he went to sleep.

This daily process had Barry more worn out then he had imagined he could get when not even using his speed for most tasks, but he was also fast to learn through his speed and could fight visibly better already as well as hunt more efficiently and be more aware of his surroundings. Barry was continuing to drink the special nutrient drinks Caitlin had made which helped him build even more muscle from the training due to his powers. Whilst keeping a lean form his muscles had grown more dense and powerful meaning, he could take harder hits easier and deal them harder and faster.

Another week was spent training like this and even Oliver was impressed with how fast Barry was learning and would have been really happy with the process if it weren't for the despair that loomed over them due to why they were training like this. Barry kept himself going with thoughts of those few he could still lose to Zoom and the thought of what Kara would think and do but he was still broken inside and despite pain and exhaustion he could feel very little as if he was only a passenger in the horror show his life had become.

Oliver and Barry were now sitting around the fire at night finishing off their dinner for the night when Oliver spoke up, "I believe it's time to go to Nanda Parbat, there is still things i can teach you but with the speed you're learning at I believe training there will be most efficient. I know my way there from my interactions with the League, but you will have to find your own way, by doing so i believe it will also help improve your awareness and growing tracking abilities."

Barry just nodded in response being too tired to form any more elaborate of a response. Heading off o their tents both prepared for what was to come. Barry was apprehensive of the training and hardship that was to come, knowing it would only get harder from here, whereas Oliver was thinking of how it would be seeing Nyssa, his 'wife', again and worried of how Barry would manage the task ahead of him. Regardless of his strong facade, which Oliver was admirable of, Oliver could still see the pain behind his eyes and in his closing off of himself and knew that if Barry made it to defeating Zoom, regardless of situation there wouldn't be much of him left over.

The next morning the Barry set off into the mountain range after he got himself breakfast to search for any trails or 'give a way's' as to where Nanda Parbat was. Oliver was going to wait at the campsite until Barry found it and came back and they would head there together. Despite his superspeed Oliver knew that it would still take him a long time, the mountain range itself spread over more than 150,000 square kilometres and the League themselves had stayed hidden all these centuries and knew how to stay concealed.

Oliver had already contacted Nyssa and explained the situation; despite past situations their relationship wasn't that terrible and Nyssa upon hearing all that had happened had agreed. She had a better heart then many thought due to her cold visage and she knew that Barry meant a lot to him. Nyssa would be a far tougher trainer than he was already, but he knew that she was the best fighter there was, and that with Barry's abilities and dedication that he could even out do her without his powers with the right and enough training.

It had been two days since Barry begun his searching only having quit to rest for the night and to eat food quickly before continuing. He was yet to find anything indicating where they could be but didn't even give thought to throwing in the towel as nothing would stop him in his path to better himself in order to protect everyone, and more importantly, those few he had left.

Barry was once again speeding across the ranges from peak to peak trying to take in as much detail of his surroundings as possible in order to isolate inconsistencies that could indicate where the League were when he came across the first thing out of the ordinary as of yet. Across from the spot he was standing at the edge of the small clearing was a single footstep in the dirt that someone had forgotten to conceal, and recently at that.

Using this he began an in-depth analysis of all he could see, applying the skills of a highly trained CSI as he had been in what now seemed, a past life.

Unfortunately, in his closet inspection he found that everything else must have been effectively hidden and the step was just a slight mistake on whoever's part this was.

The sun had already begun setting as he had started his searching of the scene, so he decided to quickly set up camp using his speed and hunt his food for the night, deciding he'd continue by using the mark he had found as a ground zero.

The next day was spent observing every minor detail of the surrounding square kilometre until Barry had finally found a pattern. The pattern would have been entirely invisible if not for his practically photographic memory and faster processing speeds due to his powers effect on his brain, given his advantage he was able to make out a trail of sorts.

By comparing all probable routes of travel to the footprints, Barry was able to identify a signifying figure of where the assassin had covered their tracks, it was nothing by a slight difference of coloration in the tousled dirt where they had passed through.

Due to the only slight difference between the identifiable path of the potential assassin and the normal paths Barry was unable to use his full speed to follow the trail as he needed more time to spot the right direction. As a result, it took him all day to follow the trail up to the highest peak of the ranges. As he got there late at night whilst the sun was setting, he entered the clouds that shrouded the top he could barely see two meters ahead of him. Knowing he'd need more time in order to find what he is looking for he sunk back below the clouds to set up camp for the night.

The next morning he woke and quickly packed away his supplies heading up back into the clouds that seemed to permanently shroud the peak he had never previously noticed before last night.

As Barry ventured into the haze that masked the mountain peak, he lost the majority of his vision to the mist and found himself grow cold very fast, he began searching the area, wishing to get out of the freezing cold as fast as possible.

It had taken over 4 hours using his speed where he could for Barry to be able to decisively say that there is no evidence to be found and as such he decided that this was most likely the opposite end of the trail to the base itself, not that he could tell why someone had come up here at all.

After back tracking the trail he took up the mountain Barry ventured past the point he had originally found the now mostly faded trail and followed the rail. Fortunately, it didn't take him long to find something more substantial as he got to a point in little under 2 hours where whoever it had been had stopped being so cautious and covering there track.

Following the now blatantly obvious path he trekked his way around a couple mountains and down into a relatively well concealed valley. Following the ravine for a few kilometres Barry found himself facing what looked to be an impassable pile of boulders, the smallest of which were at least twice his height.

Barry searched across the pile until after an hour of using his CSI skills coupled with his speed, as the sun was beginning to drop off the horizon granting the deep valley even less light then it had previously, he found a slight gap that looked to have been slid through multiple times by the lack of moss growing across it.

Slipping through the gap was difficult but he managed and found himself in front of a huge expanse that he could have sworn was geologically impossible to occur behind the boulders. Where the two mountains met that bordered the field was a huge ancient middle eastern looking temple that would have blended fantastically into the raw mountain side if not for the blazing torch light that came from the multiple visible braziers that were set on balconies across all floors as well as the light that was emitted from within. Not wanting to get closer to the literal dungeon of assassins due to the hundreds of assassins that he could see training brutally in the limited torch light out the front of the palace type structure, Barry edged back making his way back out of the area the way he came and making his usual super-fast way back to the campsite which due to his now extremely accurate memory wasn't hard to find.

When Barry arrived, he noticed Oliver by the fire with an already cooked meal, walking up Oliver turned to face him before he had even got within 20 metres of him looking somewhat impressed.

"Took you long enough." Oliver spoke up in a gruff voice whilst holding out a plate of shredded rabbit meat.

"You could've just told me where it was" Barry responded taking the offered food and sitting on the log laid horizontally across from the fire as Oliver.

"Well you made it so don't complain. I'd assume you know the way back?" Oliver asked and continued after Barry's nod in response, "Good we'll head out tomorrow morning at daybreak.

After this they both fell into a comfortable silence as both lost themselves in dark thought of the past, some more recent then others, before they set off towards their tents, or in Barry's case to set his up.

The next morning, they both woke at daybreak as had become their schedule since this all had started and quickly got through the tasks of gathering and eating breakfast before packing up there things and covering any signs of their recent use of the clearing.

Oliver had Barry speed the both of them back into the valley and in front of the entrance to the Leagues base that Barry had just found the last night. Both made their way through the gap and Barry fell behind Oliver as he confidently strolled up to the imposing building without any fear.

As the began to walk through the training ground out the front it seemed as if it was the same assassins from last night and that they had been going all night. As they passed, the assassins formed lines to either side given them what would seem like an honour guard if not for their threatening presence.

As the two reached the buildings entrance with the huge 12-foot oak doors wide open a beautiful and dangerous looking woman stepped out wearing an assassin's garb with a quiver and bow across her back with a scimitar sheathed at her waist.

"I see you've made it dear husband of mine" The woman Barry now knew to be Nyssa spoke up in a tone that held no joy within it.

"Yes, I have Nyssa Ah Ghul" Oliver spoke up bowing slightly, "I am here as my friend here requires your training"

"I am aware. Why exactly should I train him, I gain nothing from this"

Oliver was about to speak when Barry spoke up, disregarding any nervousness he previously held as he faced the most dangerous assassin to ever live according to Oliver. "I have lost everything I have ever known, my family is dead, my friends are dead, and the one that did all this is coming back and I shall destroy him if not for revenge then for the safety of the world that he will conquer without me standing in his way."

"I have heard of your powers Flash but what makes you think my training would get you anywhere, I have no experience with the powers you use." Nyssa responded.

"I shall train until my body is ready to drop dead and then keep going twice as long to improve my speed, I know my powers. The man I face, Zoom otherwise known as Hunter Zolomon, has powers like me, if I can work to match his speed and you can train me to defeat him in a fight then I will finally be able to stop him once and for all."

"As much as Oliver and I have our disagreements he is a decent man and you seem similar, I will help you train to defeat this Zoom but I will accept no weakness, you will train as we do and if you can't handle it you will be killed alike to all failed assassins in the league."

"I am eternally grateful for your training and swear to do whatever it takes, I won't let anyone else down, I won't lose again." Barry spoke with determination beyond his years.

"Good, Elric here will escort you to where you will be staying, you will have this day and evening to rest then tomorrow morning we start training. I sense potential in you and shall train you myself with the assistance of the Alzilal, or Shadows, the most talented assassins within the league."

Bowing slightly Barry followed Elric as they walked from the congregation of warriors whilst Oliver walked off with Nyssa, probably discuss some of their minor marriage issues.

Barry was left to himself once he arrived at the room in which he would be staying, say what you will about the leagues terrifying nature the rooms were some of the best he had ever seen. The bedroom was covered with deep colours including reds, oranges and black, the room consisted of a large bed surrounded by blood red drapes with a sitting area off to the side in front of a large open fireplace. On the other side of the room was a door to what looked like a bathroom and the other lead into a wardrobe equipped to store both clothing as well as armour and weapons.

Sitting by the fireplace on the comfortable plush chair, Barry stared into the flames of the angrily burning fire thinking about the things that had brought him to where he is today. He knew that his stay he would be the hardest thing he had ever done, but he knew by the end no matter what he would have to be good enough to defeat Zoom, he had no other choice. He acknowledged that if he were to not die in the process of defeating Zoom that he would continue to be a hero and that regardless of the fact that he would have nothing he would make sure no others would face the same fate as himself.

With this thought in mind Barry picked himself up and quickly used the bathroom to freshen himself up, as he hadn't done in a long time before retreating to his bed knowing he'd need all the rest he could get for whatever was to come for him tomorrow.

As the Sun glared through the wooden slats that closed off the open window that was positioned over the fireplace, Barry's room was light up only to reveal and empty but obviously slept in bed along with a pile of dirty and torn clothes lying between the bed and wardrobe.

Deep within Nanda Parbat's foreboding temple, sounds of grunts and thumps permeated through the brisk chill of the morning breeze that passed through the hallways. Within an almost pitch black room Barry was being drilled by Nyssa to use his full speed and strength, powers included, to get himself to his limit.

Nyssa had said she had found out about the power blockers that she was going to create and install to train him without his speed but for now they would work on his speed and endurance whilst both running and fighting. In the cavern they were training in Barry was running around the 1 km radius of the room whilst stopping momentarily at each steel reinforced punching bag to hit it 100 times that are hung every 50 metres around the room. Whilst he did this Nyssa was ordering him to go faster and when he wasn't as fast as she wanted, she called for him to drop and do 1000 push-ups.

They had started at 3 in the morning and now it was only 5:30 yet Barry felt more worn out then he ever had before and was sweating buckets. Coupled with the grunts and thumps emanating from the room were huge sonic booms that shook the building, although surprisingly didn't make Nyssa stumble even in the slightest, caused as he broke the speed of sound many times over between punching bags.

They kept this up until noon when Nyssa ate lunch whilst telling Barry that he couldn't for he needed to toughen up in training. After Barry had laid on the cold stone floor trying to recover some energy until Nyssa had finished, she began training him in hand to hand combat without him using his speed, in other words completely pummelling him again and again.

By the end of the day Barry ate his food faster than anyone could see before quickly retiring to his room to hopefully recover enough to endure what was surely going to only grow more difficult. As Barry laid in his bed his muscled burned and his entire body felt like one big bruise before sleep quickly took hold of him.

Over the last week Barry had continued to endure the gruelling training regimen Nyssa had been putting him through with only slight alterations each day, mainly to just make it harder. By the end of the week he was doing laps around the same cavern but had to do thing other than punching a punching bag. These included doing 300 reps on a salmon ladder, or 1000 push-ups on hot coals meaning he had to do them fast or he'd be burnt badly or lifting a 600 kg barbell over his head 100 times and more.

Barry's training with Nyssa in the afternoon had also advanced as he began fighting with kali sticks and bo staffs. Nyssa told him that fighting with sticks and staffs help to improve awareness and reaction accuracy and timing although all Barry found was more pain and bruising.

After another torturous day of training Barry limped his way into the dining room and ate quickly before hurrying to his bed, hoping in vain to get a good sleep despite not having gotten that in months.

The next morning things were changed up with Nyssa informing him that the speed dampener projectors were complete to give him training without powers. As a result, the morning training was increased and had him outside on the fields, moving further and faster as well as working to increase his strength more and land stronger blows.

In the afternoon Barry was taken to another room where futuristic metal devices were placed in the corners of the room emitting a barely visible glow and a thin black matted square was set in the middle of the room. Occupying the room was Nyssa standing on the mat and the Alzilal in full assassin's gear kneeling around the square. As Barry entered, he felt his impossibly fast senses leave him as well as the electric like charge of energy he always felt just beneath the surface. He walked up onto the mat and faced Nyssa.

"Your real combat training begins now. I shall spar with you and instruct you, with your abilities I expect you to learn fast. Once I deem you ready you will then fight with one of the Alzilal here. I expect you to be able to defeat all of them in a row without rest by the end of the month with your advanced strength and brain speed."

All Barry could do in response was nod his head as he thought of the foreboding task which was ahead of him and due to the exhaustion, he already felt from the morning beforehand.

By evening Barry had been knocked down more times than he would like to admit but on the more positive side of things his rate of improvement had increased, and the improvements were already showing.

—-

It had been a month since Barry's training had been upped from extremely gruelling to practical torture, but Barry would have almost been proud of his massive improvements had it not been for the fact that he continued to lose his emotions and sense of self as time wore on. For the past few days he had been fighting against the Alzilal, who were undeniably skilled, and had so far been able to defeat seven of the ten in a row but he felt that today would be the day he succeeded.

After a tiring morning of his rigorous strength building regiments, that Oliver had been assisting with as basically his personal trainer, Barry stood outside the power dampening training room collecting himself for what he knew was waiting. The effects of his strength training were quite clear in his physique and results, he knew he was running at least Mach 60 and could accelerate to that speed far faster, given he hadn't worked on the time to gain speed before, this was one of the largest improvements. Barry could now make sonic booms as he broke the sound barrier several times over in a metre from a standstill.

Barry pushed the heavy oak door open as it moved silently on its hinges walking into the room that had been used for his torturous training for so long now. He felt the now familiar sense as his powers were locked away as he entered the room that was flooded with midday light through the large windows that were only covered with thin red curtains fluttering in the light breeze, illuminating the dust floating through the air. Barry saw one of the Alzilal that was training with Nyssa back away and kneel surrounding the mat with the others as he approached.

As soon as Barry stepped onto the mat Nyssa called out for the training to start and the first of the 10 surrounding assassins stepped up. By the time Barry had finished the eighth he was already sweating immensely and if not for his unparalleled dedication he would surely have been lying on the ground in the pools of sweat he was generating. The next Shadow walked up to him and they began fighting at speeds that would make others question whether the speed dampeners were actually working. They traded countless blows over the next half hour both bleeding from the powerful strikes that were being traded drawing blood despite the relatively blunt, cloth bound hands being used to inflict the damage. Finally, Barry found a fault as the shadow over committed to an avoidable strike and exploited it by ducking under it whilst turning then grabbing the extended fist that flew over his shoulder and using it to flip the man across his back. The shadow thudded against the mat as Barry positioned his foot on his neck where a mere flick of his foot could snap his spine.

As Barry let go and the man picked himself up, hastily returning to his place surrounding the mat, Barry was huffing out strained breaths but wouldn't allow his exhaustion to fault him as he drew back into position ready for his next opponent. The last shadow approached but as he did Barry noticed a key difference between her and the other shadows being that she approached with a long pole that had two short and wickedly sharp blades coming out both ends.

The woman spoke up in a soft yet deadly tone saying, "You have made it this far, now it is time for me to end your hopeless pursuit. Don't slow down or you'll find this firmly lodged in your skull." She finished on a menacing note, brandishing her double ended speak tauntingly.

Without waiting for instruction Barry leapt forward, immediately engaging in what was to be one of the toughest fights of his life so far, trying to catch the shadow off guard as he had been trained to do. The flight was as fluid as watching water flow gently through a creek but the tension in the air portrayed the seriousness of the battle. Barry ducked and weaved through the broad sweeping strikes the woman made and occasionally had to abruptly dodge the vicious jabs that were sent his way.

Barry quickly analysed the situation, deciding that he couldn't defeat the woman whilst she was armed with the weapon that she was painfully obviously a master at wielding as the cuts littering his body illustrated. As a result of her skill Barry also realised that he it would also be practically impossible to disarm her, he considered avoiding a strike and moving to the weapon rack around the room and arming himself as he suspected may be what Nyssa intended for him to do but instead decided otherwise. He understood that being terribly outclassed or unarmed in a fight was a very potential situation especially with the attention he usually garnered so he wanted to defeat her without anything that could be considered cheating. Analysing the weapon itself Barry found that the shaft was made of metal and probably a very solid kind meaning it would be very difficult to damage but he had been training his physical strength and ability to land an extremely solid punch.

Weaving around another set of strike Barry found the opportunity he had been waiting for as she readied the weapon holding it with both hands. Barry reared up as he had been trained to not give away his intention to the opponent and let loose the most powerful punch he possibly could. Whilst the shadow could have dodged or parried the monumental strike it was much to their surprise as the blow went into the centre of the weapons shaft. As the strike landed Barry could feel the large fracturing of his knuckles and fingers as the strike connected before hearing the piercing crack of the metal. Barry followed through the strike rolling on the mat and standing to face his opponent in a ready position.

Despite the shock the woman was no amateur and almost immediately got over it, holding both the half-sized poles with short blades on one end in each hand she readied herself to continue the fight. Regardless of the somewhat destruction of the weapon Barry was still at a distinct disadvantage being unarmed and the woman continued fighting with an almost equal elegance.

The fight continued on for another quarter hour until Barry took an opportunity to strike, jumping into a spin putting his body horizontal becoming parallel with the ground over a sweep with one of the poles he kicked out his foot and not only kicked away the weapon in her other hand but the crack of her wrist breaking was clear as day. Landing in a roll before standing up Barry leapt straight back into the fight with the woman who was now on a disadvantage with the shock her body was in and the vicious assault being taken by Barry. In another 10 minutes Barry had disarmed her and held the other pole she had still had to her throat as she was laid on the ground underneath him with one of his knees pressed on her stomach holding her down and the other fist raised to strike

As the woman weakly let out the words, "I yield", Barry got up and helped her up before she returned to her spot in the circle. Barry then turned to be met by the applause of Nyssa and the other Alzilal, by this time the light had died down and only the few last rays of the sun shone through the widows coupling with the flickering light from the lit brazier around the room.

Nyssa waled forward and addressed him, "I will not lie, I am impressed which is no small feat. Despite many of the league training their entire life for the trial you have just completed, after little over a month's training, very few have ever passed it bar myself. Completing the fight against each of the Alzilal consecutively is the final trial to become the Ra's ah Ghul. I would finish your training here, but I see more potential in you, it is time to take your training to the next level once again. For the next month you will continue to work on your speed and strength but with us you will work on fighting multiple people without powers and larger groups with powers. Also, I want you to figure out the best ways you can overcome the emitters in this room as they are a great weakness and trap as of now for you, don't worry about breaking them as we have many more."

Despite knowing what was to come would be, if possible, even harder Barry was nonetheless somewhat proud of what he had done and a small spark of what was once his bright burning flame of hope could be seen reigniting in his eyes.

**There you go, more coming soon (hopefully),**

**I welcome any and all reviews, I would love it if you give your opinion.**

**Btw, I have a good idea of where I'm taking this story but nothings set i stone so if you want to influence where this goes or just give your idea they are much welcome and i will give you mention in the chapter if i use any of your ideas.**

**:) See u soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Barry laid in a pool of his sweat on the mat in his training room as he rolled over and pushed himself back to his feet. For almost month he had been training against multiple enemies and once he could take that number, he was forced back to his feet to fight a group one larger. Right now, he was finishing his final fight against 4 of the Alzilal at the same time without his powers, and he had never fought harder. Through extremely rare and almost impossible techniques to master coupled with his own invented skills he was able to fight this many expert enemies at once.

As soon as he had risen to his feet he rolled left to avoid a sharp long blade of the spear one of his opponents was wielding that would have cleaved his head in two, rising to his feet he engaged the spear wielder without respite and disarmed him pushing him away with the shaft of his own weapon whilst withholding a death blow with it to signal that he was out. Without any time to recover Barry was forced into a low drop as he spun with his leg out under a lightning fast swing of a short sword, his leg kicking the legs out from under his opponent as Barry once again withheld a blow to the neck. He then made short work of the two other opponents having mastered both fighting two at once separately as well as using them to inconvenience each other giving him the ability to easily dispatch them and move on if required.

After finishing his fight, he made his way to the dining room in which he had eaten with Nyssa and Oliver every night since their arrival. As they ate the food, which was an expertly cook wild boar, they discussed the training he had done so far. Barry had successfully defeated 15 assassins, that weren't the Alzilal, simultaneously and as he had just proven he could take care of four Alzilal at once. Furthermore, in previous training with his powers in fighting he had been able to defeat the entirety of the League of Assassins when they all fought out on the fields in front of the palace. In training with Oliver Barry now knew he had surpassed at least Mach 70, he was able to reach such speeds in only a matter of a few hundred meters, due to his strength training he could now lift a large boulder and throw it almost 25 meters, he could also strike such a boulder from a stand still and break it into a few pieces with only minimal fracturing to his knuckles that given his increased powers he could heal almost instantaneously.

During dinner Nyssa had decided that she had trained his combat capabilities to the peak potential that was beyond what even she thought to be possible and therefore decided he would now work on somehow stopping the anti-speed machines whilst continuing his work with Oliver. Barry was happy that the rigorous training was done and that he had done all he could in that area to best Zolomon and was looking forward to trying to work out the machines and their weaknesses but also knew that his training with Oliver was only likely to become tougher. On a more morbid note Barry also saw this as the approaching of Zoom, Nyssa had also taught him meditation and the arts of controlling your mind and as a result Barry had come to accept that this would be his last fight and that no matter what, he would defeat Zoom, to protect those few he had left and all other innocents who may otherwise be harmed, also not that others knew but he did it to protect Kara from ever having to face such a monstrosity.

Retiring to his room Barry prepared himself for the continuation of his training whilst his joints groaned, and muscles throbbed in protest.

**Time skip 15 days**

Barry had been working at overcoming the speed dampeners for over two weeks and had come up with very little beyond hitting them hard enough that they shattered. After a week at looking at all the science behind the devices he had found that they emitted particles that reacts with the energy he produces using his speed, using the energy before he can channel it into speed, basically they would tap into the speedforce when he tried, after figuring this out he tried to find a solution but couldn't come up with something that didn't require him using a temperamental device to counteract it that he'd rather not rely on.

As a result, the last week he spent simply sitting in the room with the dampeners in the centre in a meditation like state, what he was actually doing was channelling the speedforce within him and producing the energy in an attempt to both understand it and to contain it within himself to overcome the dampeners. If his eyes were to open flashes of lighting could be seen streaking across them as he focused intently and generated energy only for it to be consumed by the dampeners.

Then a thought came to him after the many hours he had already spent in the room, why try and contain the energy? If he created enough, he could overload and destroy the dampeners. Barry began focusing in on his speed and produced as much thoroughly contained energy within him, being the first time sorting this much only having stored it before momentarily to burst into a run he struggled to hold it in and before storing enough he had already released it with no effect.

Over a week or so of practice Barry finally attempted release the energy he stored on purpose. As he had contained the energy he was generating over the last hour he opened his eyes which blazed with lightning completely covering his eyes where they just glowed a violent orange light before literal bolts of lightning were flung from him to the dampeners around the room, causing them to explode with force enough to shake the entire structure.

A further week was spent on training this new found ability in both increasing the amount he could generate and store and speeding up the process. During this training he also realised he could similarly store more energy to begin running at a faster speed as well as whilst running so that he could put on burst of speeds in attacks or manoeuvres as well as throwing lightning with out a long charge up. Despite all this practice he still couldn't control the bolts of lightning he would release, and they would either go wild or if near dampeners they would target the system due to the energy following the matter release by the machines. By the end of the week he could now control the amount of power he held and released more accurately as to destroy the dampeners and not accidentally destroy the buildings foundations as he had almost done a few times.

Barry was thankful for his increased learning speed and almost photographic level of memory as it allowed him to complete all the training he had in such a short time, as well as his far faster regeneration time that meant he hadn't dropped dead a few days in. Regardless of all of this and despite the few conversations he'd given time to have with Oliver and, very occasionally Nyssa who had become a close friend as she began seeing him as not just a trainee but as an equal and her own trusted friend, Barry was still in a dark place mentally and wouldn't have held together for the fight that was surely to come without the light that a certain bright blonde alien shone upon his conscience when he was ready to give in.

By the end of the week Barry had, had a conversation with both Nyssa and Oliver and it was decided that he had received the most training from the League as he could to benefit his fighting skills by their advisement and that it was time that he left to prepare for Zoom's arrival. Nyssa had argued that as a threat to the world she and her assassins would come and aid him in the fight but they Barry immediately rejected the idea not wanting more people to die by getting involved in his fight and reinforced it in referring to how he beat all of them non-lethally in a fight. Barry chose that the best course of action was for him to run himself back to Central City whilst Oliver made his own way back as he wanted to distance himself from what he considered the last of his family right now to protect him from what Zoom would do.

This brought them to where they were now, in the main chamber of the league with the Lazarus Pit behind Oliver, Nyssa and the Alzilal with their assassin's garb on but their hoods down standing there to give him what many were convinced to be their last farewell.

Nyssa stepped forward and addressed him, "You were are brave and strong-willed warrior when you arrived but now as you leave you are also a master of fighting and a most intimidating opponent in the eyes of all those who know you. When it was decided to train you, it was because you were and are needed to protect the world but now you are one of us whether you are in the league or not. I gift you this as a symbol", Nyssa handed Barry a garb alike to that of the rest of the Alzilal but instead of being black it was a crimson, blood red, "A symbol that shows that you are one of the Alzilal and an elite of the League of Assassins, if you are ever in need we shall all heed the call and fight alongside you, our brethren."

"It is an honour to be considered as one of you, if I am to survive you should know that I also am at your aid whenever you call, all of you" Barry spoke refer to the rest of the Alzilal in the room at the ending.

Oliver then turned to Barry, "I wish you the best Barry, I wish I was strong enough to fight by your side, but I truly believe you have what it takes. I know you lost a lot to this monster but for what it's worth, you have and will always be a brother to me." Oliver's emotions were clear in his eyes as they rarely ever were as he spoke and all Barry could respond with was a nod of his head, his mind to far flooded with emotions, ranging from a small fraction of happiness to the precipice of depression, to form a proper response.

Barry then made his last farewell, clasping wrists with everyone in the room, as he met Oliver last as their wrists were clasped, they pulled one another into a brotherly embrace before giving one another an emotional glance explaining what they wouldn't or couldn't put into words. The room was then lit up with a bright flash of light and filled with a strong gust of wind and as the light faded the room was left feeling empty without the presence of the honourable member of the league.

Barry raced across mountain ranges and plains of dust and grit, through forests filled with trees and thick foliage, across straits and seas before speeding to a halt back within the now eerily silent and desolate halls of STAR Laboratories, minutes after speeding off from the League, and walked into the main cortex. As Barry walked into the cortex he was bombarded by memories of times once spent among friends who become his family in this very room whom were now gone forever. The room once filled with light and life was now lit only with the dim moonlight through the skylights and it felt to Barry as if he were the only one to be found within miles of his location. It seemed as though the lifelessness within him was directly reflected in the state of what used to be the centre of his life for so long.

As Barry walked across the room, he stopped at the door to the med lab and noticed a note laying atop one of the medical beds that still remained in the room. He must have missed it when he was last in the room after the fight with Zoom that had felt like it was a lifetime ago. Barry walked over and picked up the letter to see his name delicately inscribed across the top in what was unmistakably Caitlin's handwriting.

With shaking hands Barry lifted and opened the letter both wanting to read what Caitlin had left for him but also not sure if he was capable of doing so.

_Dear Barry,_

_It has been a long and hard time these past months, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this. I am writing this because I know that I am probably not going to make it much longer._

_I wanted to tell you a few things before I go but couldn't bare to say it out loud so here it is, _

_Barry, my time with you, fighting for justice and to protect people, getting to know you, Cisco, Harrison, it has been the best time of my life. You gave me somewhere to belong, a home and family that I'd never had and made my life a thousand times more amazing then it ever could have otherwise been. So what I want you to know is that I don't regret a minute of it, I love you and Cisco, maybe even Harrison a little, so I don't want you to blame yourself for whatever happened to me, and I know the others would say the same. I still have faith and always will no matter what, you will win because you are stronger then Zoom could ever hope to be, so when it's all over don't lose yourself, there will always be other who need you but there will also always be people out there for you so don't give up._

_Lastly, I wanted to remind you, despite the recent time, of how much fun we've all had here, together. Don't forget us and all we did, but don't stop doing it, don't give in as Zoom wants, he can't win if you don't let him._

_Thank you for the amazing years,_

_Love,_

_Caitlin Snow (Bio-engineer, not a doctor)_

Barry gave a choked chuckle as he read the last part, laying the letter, now wet with the tears that he had shed, back down on the bed. Reading the note brought back some of the light within him, after months of his mind slowly crumbling it was had finally mended, even if only a little. Caitlin's words gave Barry strength and now he truly believed that Zoom would lose, but finally gave a little hope to living after it all.

After 4 days of Barry arriving in Central City all he had done was clean up STAR Labs using his new speed and strength, leaving it in a state better then it had been since the particle accelerator explosion that was so long ago, having repaired the leftover holes and cleaning the areas that hadn't seen attention since then. He then returned to his apartment and has been waiting there for the time to come where all his training and effort comes down to the one and only most important test of his life.

As the day became night, the sun slowly dropping below the horizon, the air was filled with rain as heavy and dark clouds spilled across the city and the sky was lit up by the dancing of lightning and filled with the echoing booms of thunder. That is when it all started.

Barry stood at the window of him apartment, staring out at the miserable portrayal of a city that he had cared so much for, what felt like a lifetime ago. The window was suddenly lit up with a flash of blue light caused by a dark blue streak of lightning that shot down the street. Rather than growing nervous and scared at such a sight as he had many times previously, Barry's face morphed into a grim mask letting no emotion through.

For what would be the last time Barry donned his patched up and rugged flash suit and as the cowl was pulled over his head his eyes flashed violently with bright orange lightning. The next moment Barry was down on the street speeding his way after the trail of blue lightning at full speeds, it was apparent that Zoom, alike to Barry, had increased his own speed although it now seemed as if they were matched for once.

After almost an hour of chase, having travelled every street and alley of the city the two speedsters finally came to a stop in the same clearing in which all those Zoom took from him were buried. As Zoom turned and faced Barry he spoke in his usual raspy and spine-chilling voice, "Ahhhhhh, and we meet again Flash. I take it these past weeks have been filled with your enjoyment, I hate to bring bad news, but it is now time for me to end you like the vermin you are."  
"You may well kill me tonight Zolomon but know this, tonight is the night you die and nothing shall change that." Barry responded in a chilling and unemotional voice.

Unlike usual, despite Zoom's masked face, it was plain to see how Barry had unnerved him, and so easily at that, rather than continue with his usual goading Zoom just ran at Barry but not before the Flash could run at him as well. In the meters of distance both the speedsters had generated tremendous speeds and as they collided a huge boom could be heard for miles and the trees surrounding the clearing fell, blown back by the shock-wave. As for the two who collided, both had been flung back a large distance and had made their way through multiple trees before coming to a stop.

Both slowly, for speedsters, rose from their newly made trenches in the dirt and dusted themselves off, they had already both healed most of the damage that was inflicted to them. As if at a whistles blow the two suddenly took off at top speeds, both racing in and out of trees landing hundreds of blows upon one another. Zoom directed the two towards the city once again and rather than fight Barry used it to his advantage and out manoeuvred Zoom, landing more hits although they were healed so fast the human eye would barely catch it.

Soon the two broke the tree line and raced into the city in blazes of lightning and thunderous booms from each hit joining in with the occasional crack of the thunder from above. As they collided again and again in close combat the shock-waves of every hit landed through the surrounding water in the rain and splattered across the street into the air away from the two in an almost mist like spray. Twisting from a blow and racing through a building by phasing, Barry sneaked up on Zoom's blind spot and struck him with a bolt of his lightning stream throwing him through a few walls of the building on the other side of the street.

Almost immediately Zoom returned to the street enraged and they reengaged in combat throwing even harder hits whilst receiving similar, neither bending an inch. Continuing their race throughout Central City the two began using their surrounding object and manoeuvres to try and gain an upper hand. Blocks of concrete, iron rod and other random things from the street were hurled at one another, almost all missing or being deflected resulting in the smashing of walls and cracking of the road beneath them.

As both came to a halt in one of the many parks throughout Central, they had both retrieved iron spikes from a work-site they passed, and they reengaged in armed combat, but it was quickly found the Zoom was outmatched resulting in him being disarmed and Barry shoving his spike through his shoulder. Backing off Zoom roared as he ripped the spike from his body and through it with so much speed at Flash that it left a trail of Zoom's blue lightning on the way, being dodged by Barry the spike then struck and shattered the bronze statue of the Flash himself.

Zoom's wound was quickly healed by his powers, but it seemed as he was enraged that his strength and speed grew further. Barry was able to withstand this boost as it was compensated partially by Zoom's loss of well-formed attacks and the rest was by Barry digging deeper and using more power to match his speed. As the raced throughout the city once again they had both stepped up a notch and as they ran through the streets and across buildings and hit one another with full force huge sonic like booms were created shattering the surrounding glass and even tearing up the roads when they were on them.

Over more than an hour they battled throughout the city, neither growing any slower or weaker, they came to a stop in the middle of the main street of the city facing each other, 50 meters apart. Both speedsters' suits were soaked and dripping with both of their bloods yet only a few small wound that were visibly closing could be identified across their bodies. Both knew that this would end soon, and neither were willing to run away or give up, racing to meet in the middle the two met in a clash and began the hardest and most violent fight they had ever been in. To onlookers the fight was a storm of blue and orange lightning that formed a deadly sphere with arcs occasionally flying out and destroying the nearby roads or building facades. After what felt like forever for the two, they broke apart facing each other, the streets splattered with their blood in the area they were fighting, Barry knew it was a risk, but he had to find a way to end this fight. Despite needing to win this fight no matter what he had still been able to keep every citizen out of harm's way, but he wasn't sure if he could for much longer. As a result, Barry put his plan in action, he began drawing in as much speedforce energy as he could, more then he ever had before, and began storing it within himself whilst using less to fight in the battle Zoom had reignited. Barry focused almost solely on his drawing of energy and allowed his body to pilot itself in the fight, only able to reduce the damage he was suffering at his lower speeds.

Zoom had believed he had won and was beating the living hell out of Barry who was now reduced to almost a bloody pulp, too many bones were broken to count yet Barry still stood with almost impossible strength for his condition. Zoom put all he had into the next strike and punched Barry in the stomach so hard the boom and accompanying snap of his spine was heard throughout the downpour of rain. Barry flew back but still managed to flip into a kneel as he carved a bloody trench in the asphalt of the road, barley able to push down the immense pain he was in as he continued focusing on sustaining the huge energy trapped within him. Zoom slowly approached Barry, striding arrogantly, boasting his great and final victory as he saw it, but that all gave way to moments of sheer terror before it was all gone, when he got within five meters of the kneeling speedsters.

Momentarily closing his eyes Barry brought forth the power within him and reopened his eyes to reveal blazing orbs of lightning that if observed would be like looking straight at the sun. As the power was unleashed Barry channelled all his focus into Zoom, fuelling it with his anger and hatred and the results shook the entirety of Central City. Massive bolts of lightning spread form his small form, filling the streets and obliterating the surrounding buildings that were thankfully commercial and therefore deserted at this time of night, although these arcs of lightning and the ones that had been flashing through the sky all night, were put to shame as Barry unleashed and a massive bolt came from the cloud of lightning that had surrounded him flying into the speedster and vaporising him into dust before continuing and annihilating the street ahead to leave a long crater that looked as if it was made by a meteorite due to the huge size and destruction.

Once Barry had seen Zoom reduced to nothing he let up, completely drained of power like he'd never been before. As he collapsed to the ground the last thing Barry saw before darkness was the pure destruction they had brought on what used to be his prized city now with it's main street reduced to rubble with much of the once high-rises lying across the street, only shrapnel of what survived the fight remaining.

**At the beginning of the fight**

_Star City_

Oliver had gotten back to Star City two days ago and since had been worrying in the arrow cave almost constantly wanting to be out helping Barry but knowing that he had done all he could. Felicity, Thea and Diggle had been curious as to what had been going on with him since he had gotten back and kept asking only for him to tell them it was private, they had all been worried about him as he barely left the cave and was often seen busy monitoring the different cities across America. Currently he was seated in front of the monitors and looking around Central City with the other three sitting around him eating the food they had brought for dinner with him, but Oliver hadn't touched it.

As Oliver stared at the different cameras, he accessed using Felicity's hacking program he noticed a blue streak he had come to dread the sighting of for what he knew it announced. Oliver finally spoke up, "Felicity, I need you to set the cameras to follow this blue streak around the city on the monitors" he said gesturing to the streak he had the screen paused on. Rather than question him, seeing his seriousness, Felicity did what he asked and now the different screens constantly showed views of the blue streak running around the city. Not long later it was accompanied by an orange one and Oliver knew it had begun.

Despite their curiosity the three others present remained silent knowing that this wasn't the time for questioning Oliver. They all watched as the streaks soon disappeared, but they all stayed paying attention as Oliver hadn't looked away as the screens ran through cameras across the city looking for something. Soon the streaks reappeared in what seemed to be a brutal combat as seen by how the surroundings were affected. Felicity, Thea and Diggle gasped as they saw the destruction being caused and were only more horrified as it continued to escalate and didn't seem to be slowing down. They continued to watch throughout the battle, when they had stopped the other three had confirmed that it was Barry and another person like him as they had thought.

As they continued Oliver collected his senses and stood up, "Whatever comes of this Barry will need us there when it's over. Felicity can you get the screens on the go, Dig can you get the van." The others only nodded and rushed to do as requested, all of them getting in the van as Dig sped them towards Central. As they made their way there the three, other than Dig, continued watching the fight although they could all hear the resonating booms that shook central city from where they were, miles away. Oliver knew it would be long until it came to an end as he knew Barry would either make sure to stop it to prevent others being harmed or die trying.

The three were entering the city through the torn-up streets filled with destruction as they saw Barry being beaten to death by Zoom, tears were in Felicity and Thea's eyes as they saw what was their close friend dying whilst Oliver was hurting similarly inside but not showing it. Then as Barry seemed to be finished, they saw a flash of light before all the cameras in the area were destroyed only to see it through a street to their left as an impossibly huge ball of lightning exploded and destroyed everything around it. The only consolation for them all was that the lightning was orange which Oliver knew Barry had caused, most likely on purpose. As the city seemed to stop shaking and was left with silence only permeated by the dull beating of water across the wrecked city.

They came into the street as soon as the dust cleared, and Oliver threw open the side door of the van racing out towards the end of the trench in the road to find Barry's lifeless body and no traces of Zoom. He knew that Zoom would gloat his victory across the city so he knew that Barry had done it and finally defeated the monster, yet this was little consolation as he picked up what very well could be his young, dead brother it all but blood.

After Oliver had raced Barry back to the van in his arms the five had hastily made their way back to the arrow cave whilst Felicity hacked all cameras on the way to conceal them taking Barry and their way to, from and through Central City during and after the battle. As they had arrived back in the cave Oliver had rushed Barry to the medical bay and laid him out on one of the beds. They had observed after cutting off his uniform that Barry seemed to not be healing as he usually does and therefore Oliver and Felicity got to work repairing his wounds and lastly with felicity using the medical expertise she learnt over the years with the team, to put Barry's highly fractured vertebrae back in place and realigning his other damaged joints, hoping that his healing would kick in soon to heal the damage.

Oliver was now waiting beside Barry's bed as the monitor beeped regularly, once they had finished Felicity had explained that due to the huge strain on his body and extreme damaging to practically all of it, that Barry's body had entered a coma and whilst, due to his powers, they were sure he would wake up they didn't know how long it would take. As Oliver watched over Barry, wanting to protect him now he could, he couldn't help but feel proud of him for all he had accomplished despite the suffering he had to endure alongside it.

From that day on Oliver swore to himself that he would take care of Barry as his younger brother no matter what and would do whatever it takes to try and help him recover as much as he can so that Barry can get the happiness he deserves.

**Well, there's another chapter and the big Zoom v Flash fight. I enjoyed writing that and would like to know what you thought of it, if it was too detailed or not detailed enough?**

**A few other questions i have had were:**

**\- Do y'all like the longer chapters or would you rather shorter ones that might be a little more regular? Personally i rather the long ones where i can add more depth to the story and not be all jumpy.**

**\- Also, do you want me to do a chapter from Kara's world in her 'POV' before Barry going there saying what happened after he left rather then me telling it by having her explain it when Barry end up on Earth 38 (I mean, IF he ends up there hehehe :)?**

**I Appreciate any reviews as they encourage me to write so I hope I hear from you, even if it's just an opinion.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you liked it. Till next time :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

It had been almost two weeks since Barry had fallen into his coma and he showed little signs of regaining consciousness with his wounds only healing at a normal, human speed. Oliver had barely left his side, and the other members of team arrow had also been around more often than not with Felicity there almost permanently to make sure Barry was medically ok and that Oliver was fine given he had been acting off since the incident in Central.

In the middle of the cave on the monitors was the news that had been going on constantly and hadn't let up an inch since the big battle of Central City. The media had been going wild with all that had happened, and many began labelling The Flash as a terrorist due to the damage that was done whilst others fought for him saying that he had been fighting Zoom and protecting them as he had always done. Many were in frantic search for their beloved hero that had only appeared after a long absence from the city, through the debacle the police had taken the Flash sides labelling him as a protector but due to the damage it was a federal matter and many politicians were calling it a terrorist act and that the Flash had to be brought in. If the fight wasn't enough the fight for the Flash as a hero or villain had thrown Central as well as many other places across America into vicious arguments and feuding. During all this the repairs had begun on the city and many people who had their buildings damaged were standing against the Flash although there was still some preaching what could have been if Barry hadn't saved them.

Oliver cared little for this debate, he was angered by how the people were turning against Barry and blaming this on him but with Barry in the state he was, this was of little concern. The steady beep of the heart monitor that was attached to Barry was what had all of Oliver's attention, and now the beeping had suddenly sped up to a rapid pace as a loud blaring sound came from the machine as it flashed red saying that Barry was in cardiac arrest. Felicity raced over and checked over the monitor and Barry before typing into the monitor causing the beeping to quieten and the blaring to stop although the beeps were still at a high speed.

"Aren't you going to do something? He's in cardiac arrest!" Oliver exclaimed as he saw Felicity calm down and turn the alarm off.

"It's fine Oliver." Felicity said placating him, "It's good news actually, it seems his speed has returned and is relatively similar to Caitlin's data that I collected off STAR's servers but has increased slightly but that would seem consistent with his obviously increased speed. Don't worry Oliver, I'm now sure that he will recover, and it shouldn't be too much longer. You should probably do something about your disappearance given you are the mayor of Star City, remember?"

"You're right but first I owe you all an explanation." Oliver responded, soon Diggle and Thea had arrived from wherever they had been and sat around the table in the cave.

Once they were all together Oliver explained to all of them what had happened; to Barry, when Barry came to him, the training they went and did and how the fight had been his last stand against Zolomon who had of destroyed the universe and then gone onto others had he been victorious.

By the end of the explanation the three were shocked to say the least, they had all been close to Barry and had tears in their eyes upon hearing all that he had been through and were proud of what he had done, knowing that whatever damage had been done to Central was a speck of dust compared to what he had prevented.

"Oliver, I'm sure you've heard the fighting in the press over the actions of Barry, I believe that the least he deserves is to be recognised as the hero rather than go down a villain and as the mayor of Star City you could do something to change the story." Felicity spoke up after a few minutes of silence after the story had finished and brought forth the agreement of both Thea and Diggle.

Oliver nodded is head, "It's the least I could do, and I could only hope that I could do more, he didn't deserve any of this, he was the best of us. I'm afraid of what will be left of him, I doubt he will be the Flash anymore, he is strong, but he has been broken too many times I just don't know"

Felicity shook her head at Oliver's words, "You said it yourself, he is strong and the best of us, he will pick himself up but until then he has got us, all of us." She said with finality giving Oliver some hope after the weeks of worry and buried anger at everything.

Oliver was now walking up to the podium at the press conference that was held within hours of his return and at his request. The room was packed with reporters from across the city all wondering where he had been and what had taken him from the City he had sworn to repair.

"Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, citizens of Star city, and whoever else may be watching this." Oliver began with a grim expression, "First I must apologise for my absence, I was taken away by some very important personal business I had overseas that couldn't wait. I know I promised to all of you that I would be here and that I would help this city and I am deeply sorry for my absence and am hereby announcing my retirement from the position of mayor of Star City."

At this statement Oliver was met with an uproar of questioning and commenting on his statement from the packed room of reporters all wanting to know more of his absence and reasoning for retirement. Oliver ignored the ruckus and continued, the audience quieting down almost immediately wanting to know what he had to say.

"Despite this, this is not the main reason for which I have called this conference, we have all by now heard of the great tragedy to have struck Central City and the battle that had taken place between the Flash and another person like him. I am here to ask you all something. When Central City faced a plethora of enemies that risked the lives and welfare of not just Central City but America itself what did the Flash do? Did he use his powers to run for safety? No. He ran into danger, he through his regard for personal safety to the wind and gave is all to save each and every person that he could. Do you all really believe that it was some simple miracle that not a single casualty was suffered in the disaster? No, the Flash not only fought to stop his enemies, but he fought to save the city."

"I know you may say that all of this is just a matter of perspective, a hopeful and blindly optimistic view but you are wrong. I have heard the news, the arrogant and fearful politicians that are trying to garner votes by describing the Flash as an evil terrorist that will tear down the city and conquer our world if we don't stop him. They are a disgrace to our people; we have for so long been thankful for the sacrifices of Central's hero to protect people at all costs but now we are just turning our backs?"  
This was again responded to with many questions from the reporters but one broke through the ruckus as others quietened to hear more.

"Mr Queen, you claim that you aren't just being hopeful but what do you have to back that up. The so-called hero has done millions of dollars in damage to the city and whether or not they did, people could have died. What will happen next time if nothing is done."

Oliver sighed knowing what he was about to do would have serious effects but that it was necessary, "I understand what you are saying, I can't blame anyone for fearing what he has done and could do but I see what I must do to show you the truth." Oliver paused for a moment as all the reporters inched forwards in their seats, "I don't speak from my ideas or imagination, I speak from what I have seen, the truth I know, the man I know. I know who the Flash is. I have known the man since before the particle accelerator went off and gave him the powers he has. I watched as from the day he found his powers he immediately tried to run out and save anyone he could, running into burning buildings, bank robberies, facing the meta-humans that the police weren't able to protect the public from. It didn't always go perfectly but he learnt and trained to be the best he could to save everyone he could. Not only did he do this, but he still had to keep up his job to live his life as any of you do. Could you imagine adding being a super powered hero to your life and still coping with everything. The man you all know as the Flash is the man, I know to have bled and broken bones in the effort to protect his city, to protect all of us. The person he was fighting, Zoom, otherwise known as Hunter Zolomon, he wanted to kill everyone who opposed him, then take over each country until he ruled the world, and he would have, the only one who could stop him was the Flash and so as always he put everything in to save all of us. Over the last month Zoom has broken his back, killed his father, his sister, two of his closest friends, all to hurt him and to defeat him so he could ruin all of our lives, kill many of us. When the flash called me months ago telling me what he had been through and told me he needed help, I didn't leave him for my job as mayor, I dropped everything because that's what he would do for me, for his friends and family, for anyone who needed him to. He spent this time training until he was almost dead the getting up and going twice as hard. All of that came down to two weeks ago, he fought the monster who destroyed his life and would destroy all of our homes and he not only won, but he was able to protect everyone from being hurt. What is a few million in damaged buildings to the freedom of all of us. After the fight he had given it his all and for the past two weeks I have been by his bedside whilst he lays in a coma with at least half of his bones fractured and injuries that would send anyone else straight to the morgue. He will wake up, soon we believe, I doubt he will return as the Flash with all he has suffered but for all he has done the least we can do is remember him a hero who gave everything for us and not disgrace his memory as some false terrorist. The Flash is the greatest man I have ever and will ever know, whatever people may say he is humanities hero, America's hero, Central's hero. He is what our children aspire to. Don't let us forget it or we will lose what matters most, our faith in the good of us all." With that Oliver departed the podium and room, escorted by the mayoral guards, he had said all he had to say and could only hope that everyone who saw it would see the truth.

As Oliver left the room he was left with not only questions and confusion but also cheering and applause for the hero that saved us all.

Over the next few day the news of his speech had reached across not only America but overseas as well as had the events in Central City. Much to Oliver's happiness, the speech was received well by almost all people and the discussions in the media had been almost completely swayed in the Flash's favour. Some still preached him as a terrorist but were almost immediately silenced by the onslaught of hate they received from huge portions of the population. Many questions were being asked of the Flash's identity and how he knew him, but they were met with nothing as Oliver continued to spend almost all of his time down in the Arrow cave.

Barry had been healing steadily and was set to wake up in the next day or so by Felicity's predictions but based on what she has observed, the damage to his spine would have him a permanent paraplegic without his powers and even with them he will still be in a wheelchair for a while due to their decreased healing as a result of the strain on his system and severity of the injury. Oliver had paid a visit to Barry's apartment after hearing this news and brought back clothing for him to keep in the Arrow Cave where he would likely stay until he healed, and he also took care of paying the bills for him for the next few months to avoid Barry any hassle.

As of now Oliver was sitting at the monitors and looking over the news about the repair efforts and discussions over the events in Central City as well as the articles written regarding his announcement and plethora of people who wanted to be famous outing people who he's been seen with as the Flash. His boredom induced from reading so many stupid and fictional articles was broken by the increase in speed of the beeping that had been coming from the medical bay the entire time which was once again accompanied by a blaring alarm. As he rushed over Felicity was already there and had turned off the alarm announcing that Barry was awakening.

Barry blearily blinked his tired eyes open as his body ached with deep pain all over and he couldn't focus for a few minutes as he pushed the pain aside in his mind. As his vision cleared the blurry images of two people focused out to be Oliver and Felicity. Pushing himself up Barry found that he had lost control of his lower half and had to lift himself with just his arms, Oliver having given up keeping him lying down after Barry persisted. As he was in a sitting position, leaning back against a pillow on the wall behind the bed Barry observed the two others' worried expressions as well as Felicity's eyes that were glazing over with unshed tears as she looked at him.

Turning with a worried expression to Oliver he asked, "What happened? Is something wrong?".

In response Oliver shook his head, "Not anymore. Do you remember what happened?"

"I was fighting Zoom around Central City, so much was destroyed in the fight, then I knew that neither of us were going to win without people getting killed in the middle of it so I did something… I-I think, wait, I remember, I stopped fighting and drew in as much energy as I could. I didn't know if I could do it but it was the only possible way I could see that the least people would be hurt. I tried channelling the energy and controlling where it went even though I hadn't been able to before and then I just felt myself explode. It didn't hurt, it was almost a euphoric feeling but drained me so much it began hurting to go on. I stopped once I was sure that Zoom was done for." Looking up at Oliver and Felicity he saw their expressions hadn't changed.

"What is it? Did people get hurt? Did I do too much damage?" Barry asked, voice full of concern for the people of Central City.

"You destroyed many of the surrounding buildings, but they were deserted at the time and no one died or was seriously injured. A lot of the politicians and people in the media were labelling you as a terrorist for the damage you did but it doesn't matter. You did what had to be done and you saved us all from so much worse." Oliver answered

"They may as well see me as a terrorist, I'm done being the Flash, the Flash was a team and now it's dead. I'm sorry I just can't anymore." Barry announced apologetically.

"It's fine Barry, you've done more than anyone could have asked of you. But even if you're done being the Flash, you are still Barry and that matters. You probably realised that your back is broken, it will heal based on what Felicity observed but will take time as it was extremely damaged so you will be in a wheelchair for a while."

"That's fine. Oliver, it's okay, you did all you could, and it worked, I did what I had to, you don't need to worry anymore."  
"I'm not worried for everyone else; I'm worried for you Barry. You need to get better, you deserve it." Oliver said solemnly.

Barry nodded in response and turned to face Felicity, reaching out and pacing a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong, I'll be okay I promise."

Felicity nodded shakily before lifting her head to face Barry. "I'm so sorry." She began, putting her hand on Barry's, "You of all people never deserved this. Anything you need, I'm here for you."  
"Thank you Felicity, and please don't be sad. It's over now and he's never coming back."

Nodding more firmly, Felicity wiped the tears out of her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt before moving off to the side and pulling over a wheelchair from the side of the room. "You can use this once you are better, you can get around the cave and if there is anything you need, you need only ask." She said indicating the wheelchair when mentioned.

"Oliver can I have a hand getting out of this bed please." Barry said looking over to Oliver.

"You should rest, you only just woke up." Oliver countered.

"I just woke up I don't need more rest. C'mon, get over here." Barry said putting on a facade of the humour and positivity he used to have to reassure the two who were obviously on edge.

Conceding, Oliver came and helped him into the wheelchair and Barry was able to then wheel around the room a little, getting used to the wheelchair for a few minutes.

The three then left the medical wing and Barry made his way up to the monitor, Felicity helping his to be pushed up the ramp even if he didn't need it with his speed almost fully returned and having most of his super-human strength from his training returned.

At the monitors Barry pulled a few things lying around the desk and got Oliver to grab him a few things he say lying around the room and used them and his speed to unassembled the keyboard and parts of the computer and monitor and install technology he recalled him and Cisco designing for him to use his speed with the technology.

Thinking of his time with Cisco mucking around in his lab brought a wave of painful emotions though he didn't let them show to save Felicity and Oliver the worry. Finishing in about a minute he had everything reassembled and used it to then read all the recent news and everything that had been going on in another minute which he could recall with his almost perfect memory now.

After reading all the information Barry turned around to face Oliver, noticing the awe on Felicity's face at both the boosted gear she now had and at what he had just done in both building and using it.

"I read about what you did. Thank you, Oliver, you didn't have to but I do appreciate it." Barry said looking up at Oliver gratefully.

"Nonsense, it was the least I could do for you. You deserve to be remembered a hero and I'm just sorry that all I could do was have you not be seen as a terrorist." Oliver said, looking honestly apologetic.

Rather than say anything Barry just chucked and held out a hand and the two grasped forearms in a brotherly way given Barry was unable to give him a hug due to his current predicament.

Over the next two weeks of Barry's recovery, he had used the time to work on his newfound abilities to learn faster and run thoughts through his head faster and had been basically learning almost everything he could. Being able to remember everything helped as Barry could now confidently say that he was an expert in quantum physics, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer programming, nano-tech and many other areas of study from both past and those paving the future currently.

After studying these courses all in under a week to the point that he could go up against the top researchers of the various fields Barry had decided to do something more practical. He had decided that he didn't want the loss of his team to take away all they had stood for and decided he would continue to do what he could to be the hero they saw but now he would instead work from the dark, like Oliver, working with team Arrow. He had told Oliver and whilst he hadn't wanted him to go back to all of it after a while of persisting on the topic Oliver had given in and accepted.

As a result the last week was spent by him upgrading the suit given to him by Nyssa and the Alzilal and using it as a baseline from which he made the armour highly impenetrable and able to withstand large forces with little effect on the wearer by using a new alloy of his creation that was both lighter and stronger than Titanium and was similar to star alloy but wasn't limited by the requirement of energy. After adding these things to the suit, he had then fashioned new soles for the boots that would allow better traction when needed but not slow him when he was running his fastest speeds. That brought him to his latest project which was working with creating an advanced energy field by harnessing the energy that would flow around him in his running. The device ran through the lining between the pieces of flexible armour alloy that he had installed and made the light refract completely around his form making him invisible to the human eye when he was running at around Mach 2 or more which was easy for him nowadays, or at least would be when he could walk again.

Felicity had been fascinated with this tech and he had spent longer creating it as he went through the process and detail with Felicity who was a genius herself so she had caught on fast and learnt a lot about the speedforce, which included physics theorems that Barry had made himself in the process that were years ahead of current research.

Once Barry could finally walk his back had healed quickly with his power back in full and the last of the damage being quick to repair. Once he was running again around the cave, he pieced back together the now pimped out assassins' suit and put it on as Oliver, Diggle, Thea and Felicity waited to see the final result. As Barry returned to the cortex, appearing from nowhere due to the light distortion technology the other four were shocked to say the least.

"Damn son, you look hot." Thea said which prompted a scathing look from Oliver before he looked back at Barry.

The suit was the same deep, blood red almost black that it had been before, the shadow of the hood concealing his face and the ends of the cloak billowing around his legs. The armour plating was almost unnoticeable as the suit wrapped around his body and made it clear that Barry was far more muscular than most and looked similar to Oliver if not stronger with his bulging muscles. Let's just say that if you were to see him like that emerging from the darkness, whoever he was coming from would run away no matter who they were.

Impressed, Oliver gave him a nod of appraisal, "You look damn menacing Barry, now are you ready to do something with it?" Oliver asked, half encouraging him, wanting to see what he was capable of and half still concerned whether he should be doing this at all.

Piping up, Thea interjected, "If he's going out like that, he will need a new name. You got anything Barry?"  
"I'm not doing this as a hero anymore, I don't need a name, I'll go out there and do what I can to honour those who died for and because of me." Barry said with finality, silencing Thea who sobered up from her bout of fangirling.

In response Oliver simply gave a nod with a grim expression marring his face. He had always wanted to stop Barry from suffering what he had when he watched him become the Flash but what he had been through was so much worse and all he could do is try to reassemble the broken pieces.

That night Barry went out and ran to Central City keeping his speed low enough to avoid making too loud a sound and alerting people to his presence. Entering the abandoned streets that were still scattered with the destruction that he had left behind he came to a stop in a shadow so that he wouldn't be noticed.

Analysing what was in front of him in a split second, Barry got to work, moving away rubble to pile up and beginning to repair the buildings, referring to the tablet he had boosted to go at his speed when he didn't know how to do something. When the sun was beginning to rise, and people would be soon passing by the scene Barry raced off back to the Arrow Cave in Star City.

His time for the next week each night had been spent doing the same thing. The media had picked up on what was happening and after two nights they had started putting up cameras and standing around to see if they could find how was doing the repairs, but Barry always cleared them out before starting and then spending the entire night continuing his repairs. Many had assumed that it was the Flash after camera recordings showed the cameras moving to another location almost immediately, some experts even theorised that he had gotten faster and they therefore couldn't see anything anymore but no one was sure, all they knew was that each night the city was being restored to what it once was.

Barry had spent each day at the Arrow Cave sleeping most of the time and spending the rest on finding out more things and learning as much as he could finding it to be a fun hobby to see how fast he could finish different university courses.

By the end of the week Barry had finished almost a year worth of reconstruction efforts and had only a few final touches left to do. The city had been shocked and as time passed more and more people joined in with the, now majority of people, who believed the Flash had done it and that therefore the last few people were letting go of their ideas of him being a terrorist. Barry didn't really care for his reputation as the Flash, he just wanted to make up for the damage he had unintentionally done and repair the citywide damages to help restore the civilians' life and honour the city he and his team had spent so long protecting and had loved dearly.

During this time Oliver had spent a lot of time with Barry when he had been around the Arrow Cave, whilst at first Barry's facade had almost eluded Oliver to his pain it hadn't lasted long. Rather than confront him Oliver just did his best to make sure he was okay and was afraid of what Barry would do when he finished fixing Central as that was what he had put all his attention into, probably to avoid everything else that had been happening.

Oliver knew that when Barry made his way to Central that he had been going to the grave site of those that Zoom killed because of the tracker he and Diggle had forced him to attach to his suit despite Barry's protests. Oliver knew it was only a matter of time as did the rest of the team and they had decided they would just be there when the time came. It turned out that that time had come when Oliver had expected as Barry had left the cave the night after finishing the repairs in Central City and Oliver had followed him to where he was on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in Star City.

**There you go, I was really into it last chapter so I wrote another.**

**Like you I assume, I want to get to the SuperFlash but I don't want to skip over all the rest. I know this chapter might be a bit boring but I thought it had to be done. Anyway I'd love to hear you feedback and ideas so i can write what you guys want as well. Next chapter will be Earth-38 so I guess I'll see you all then :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

**The events of Supergirl have been altered somewhat as well as the general timeline so bear with me for a bit. I didn't want to be too cannon, so the differences weren't a mistake they were intentional.**

**The Day After Barry's Departure**

_National City, Earth-38_

Kara woke up the next morning as the sun glared in her face through the curtains, she had left open last night waking her rather harshly. Blinking away the sleep from her eyes she looked over to her alarm clock only to realise that she had 15 minutes to be at work with Ms Grant's latte or she would regret it. Racing out of her bed she sped throughout her apartment preparing herself for the day and as she pushed the door open and made out of the apartment at a normal speed she quickly sped back in and out placing the glasses on her face that she had almost forgotten. She had been so comfortable in Barry's presence than she had been on Earth in so long, if ever, that she was more relaxed about all her problems being Supergirl and a kryptonian in hiding. Sobering herself up with the reminder that Barry was gone now and may never return was a painful process, but she knew that it would only hurt more to linger on him.

Rushing through the streets of National City she quickly entered the usual café that she frequented for Ms Grant and her coffee which the barista prepared upon seeing her without her having to ask, she paid for it and rushed out the door and through the bustling streets of the early morning city rush. Making her way into the Catco lobby Kara gave a short greeting to the security guard as she entered the packed elevator.

Coming out of the elevator on her floor she saw Jimmy approaching her from the right and made haste to get over to her desk and put down her handbag and coffee before carrying her coffee into Cat's office to wait for her. She knew that she had needed someone to tell her what Barry had about Jimmy before so that she would do something but now that Barry was gone and she had sometime to think, the feeling she thought she had for Jimmy didn't seem very real anymore, like a stupid school crush unlike the true feelings she knew she harboured for Barry. Despite it being unwise to through away her chances on a man that she may never see again she knew in her heart that what she could have with him would be worth so much more than anything else. Ms Grant soon came over from her elevator and entered her office, not even looking at her as she took the offered coffee and took a sip with an approving huff once she tried it.

"Kiera, I see your handsome cousin has left the city. I take it we won't be seeing the Blur again any time soon?"

"Wh-what do you mean? You think Barry is the Blur? That's absurd." Kara said trying to cover both her own and Barry's identity.

"Ahhh, I see. Don't worry, I won't tell." Ms Grant replied seeing Kara's struggle.

"You won't?"  
"You may see me as the huge media mogul that would do anything for the next big scoop, but I am not stupid. I know why The Flash and Supergirl and all those other heroes conceal their identities to protect those close to them. Who would I be if I outed them for a quick hit on the front page and then they stop being heroes and those they care for are put in harm's way?"

Stunned by Ms Grant's answer, Kara simply nodded in response, further realising how different she was than people all assumed.

"Well? I don't pay you to stand around with your mouth open. Get to work Kiera and cancel my afternoon appointment I have to go to therapy after the phone call I shared with my mother last night."

Nodding, Kara moved out of the room at a fast pace and returned to her desk where she got to work. After she had delivered lunch to Ms Grant and eaten her own, she tried to return to work but couldn't due to her thoughts all being interrupted by the myriad of emotions that Barry's time here had caused. Giving up on work she started doodling in her note pad and started drawing Barry in his flash suit with the cowl down in more and more detail. As she was so absorbed in what she was doing she didn't notice Winn come up behind her until he spoke.

"Whatcha doing Kara?" Winn asked, obviously similarly bored. Jumping in fright, Kara hastily shut the notepad and turned to face Winn, "Nothing, nothing at all." Not having seen what she was doing Winn simply shrugged.

"So, anything to do? People to save? For once the systems here aren't getting fried so I've got nothing to do."

"That sounds good. I could use some Supergirl work to distract me." Kara answered without thinking.

"Distract you from what? your doodling?" Winn asked jokingly.

"I was not doodling!" Kara responded with a blush growing on her face but at least he dropped the questions about what she wanted distraction from due to is bout of laughter.

It was then that Kara picked up a scream somewhere in the City and announced to Winn, "Duty calls". Racing to a closet she got changed into her outfit and supersped out to where the screams were coming from. Arriving she found an apartment that had gone up in flames and rushed through the building getting the people out and at a safe distance before dousing the flames with her freeze breath.

For the next few hours she patrolled the city stopping thefts and helping people out whilst chatting with Winn on the comm in her ear, thankfully her absence not being noted at Catco meaning as her day came to an end she simply went back to the office and changed into her normal clothes. After bidding Cat, who was still in her office, farewell, she made her way home walking through the streets that were now bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. The afternoon had been successful in distracting her from thoughts of Barry, but she had no such luck upon returning home and simply sat eating some potstickers from the fridge that she had heated in front of the news on the couch whilst doodling again in her notepad.

Over the next few weeks nothing major came up and Kara simply continued with her normal routine of going to Catco and then sneaking off when she could to take care of the city as Supergirl. Thoughts of Barry continued to plague her mind often, but she was able to stay focused better on work after the first few days although once she went home, she didn't have as much success. She wished Alex was around as she was the only one, she felt that she could talk to about the man she was falling for, hard.

Over the weeks she had been able to successfully avoid being caught with Jimmy in private, but it was getting harder as he became more persistent, obviously wanting to talk to her about something. Things at the DEO had been quiet with them not calling her in for help but that could be partially due to Lucy's objections to working with her, yet she still used visits there to check in with them as an excuse to avoid Jimmy.

She felt somewhat bad about avoiding her friend like this, as he still was her friend, but she had a feeling that if Jimmy said whatever he had to say then she might lose that friendship, he was also Clark's close friend and she didn't want to hurt him because of that. As she thought of this laying in bed not wanting to get up on her day off, she realised something. Clark! Whilst he could be an overprotective cousin most of the time, she would still be able to talk to him about Barry.

Putting her suit on and packing a change of clothes into her bag after getting ready for the day, Kara flew out her window and raced over to Metropolis to see their famed superhero.

As she arrived at his apartment she got changed into normal clothes on the roof and went down through the roof access stairwell, making her way to her cousin's apartment. As she got there, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door three times, the door was opened soon after to reveal her cousin, Clark Kent, in normal clothes with his glasses on looking nothing the part of Superman.

"Kara? What are you doing here? He asked, surprised to see her there.

"Can't I drop in to see my cousin?"

"Well not if he lives in another city."

"But we can fly dork." Kara replied, enjoying their sibling-like bickering.

"Of course, you can come by anytime cus." Clark answered her original question, "So what is it you're here for?"

"I didn't have someone to talk to with Alex on the run with Hank looking for Jeremiah, then I thought I could just come to you instead." Kara said, somewhat nervous that she might be pushed away.

"Of course, you can come to me. Always. Come in, make yourself comfortable, I was just doing some work from home today before going to lunch with Lois."

"I can always come back later. You don't have to cancel on Lois."

"It's fine, we can always go tomorrow, I don't see you enough." Clark said pulling her into a hug.

"Thanks." Kara answered before sitting down on the couch in the middle of the room with Clark sitting down next to her, "How's it going with Lois anyway?"

"It's going great, I've finally told her I am Superman and after a bit she came back and she was fine with it, albeit somewhat angry understandably so. We are really going well and I'm planning on offering for her to move in with me soon."  
"That's great, I'm so happy for you Kal." Kara answered, really happy for her cousin, as she loved Lois as well like she was her big sister, yet she also felt some despair that she hid from her cousin at the thought that Barry knew who she was and accepted her but was so far beyond her reach.

Shaking off her abrupt feelings Kara looked back towards Clark, "I need to hang out with you to a bit more, it's been too long."  
"Of course, you know Lois loves you so I'm sure she would enjoy it. She was so proud of you when she found out you were Supergirl, she wasn't even angry at you." Clark grumbled the last part quietly.

Giggling Kara said, "That's because I'm not her boyfriend, stupid."

Clark laughed a bit at that. "How about next weekend, we can all get together and catch up. You can stay the night here." He offered.

"Yeah sure, that sound fun." Kara said, gulping as she realised, they had exhausted their conversation and that it was time to talk to Kal. Don't get her wrong she loved and trusted her cousin it was just that she had never voiced her feelings and she also didn't know who else to talk to if Kal couldn't help.

Clark, seeing that Kara was about to talk about whatever she had come to talk to him about, stayed silent and waited. Drawing in a breath Kara plucked up what courage she could muster, "I met someone a few days ago, his name was Barry."  
-

After their conversation Kara had left Metropolis, night having already settled as they had talked almost the entire day there in Kal's apartment. Fortunately, she had been right to go and see Clark, she had told her just what she felt she needed to hear. He said that he saw how obvious it was that she cared a great deal for this man, like he did with Lois, and that if she wanted to have something then she couldn't give up. He asked whether she thought Barry would come back and she admitted that she truly did, she had a strong feeling that Barry felt similar to her. After their discussion Kara had solidified her resolve and decided to wait for Barry, no matter how long it took, and if he took too long, she'd find her way to him, but until then she just had to keep living her life.

After that Kara had also brought up her concerns with James and Clark was somewhat angered saying that he asked him to go down and help her out and not to mess with her. Kara, whilst not wanting to be protected by her cousin or James, was comforted by the notion that Kal had done that for her and that he cared enough to. Clark had offered to talk to James and tell him to leave her alone, but Kara decided that she would be fine with dealing with whatever he had to say, especially after she got her emotions back in order.

After the long day catching up with her cousin, Kara felt very relieved and happy that she had spent the day in Metropolis and felt a lot better about what was to come in her future, with more hope for her and Barry to be reunited than she had felt since their kisses that she still sometimes felt the phantom touch of as she awoke from her dreams.

It was three days after her visit to Metropolis, the morning started as any other Wednesday, she entered Catco and was soon greeted by Cat, in other words she took her offered coffee then dismissed her, as she then sat at her desk she was approached by James once again and decided to get this over with.

As James arrived at her desk, he began talking to her, "Hey Kara, can we talk in private for a moment. There's something I want to tell you."

Accepting the offer the two made their way across the floor and into Jimmy's photo-lab/office. After closing the door behind him Jimmy began telling her what it was, he had to say.

"Kara, you see the thing is over these past few months, seeing you become Supergirl and getting to know you I must admit I have began forming feelings for you and I want you to be my girlfriend. You are amazing at what you do but you're not your cousin and you are going to need me to be there for you and I'm willing to do that for you."

Kara had to withhold the scoff that she almost let out at him saying that she would need him, she had planned to be as nice as possible and hopefully stay friends, but the arrogant and egotistical way James just spoke made her think that it wasn't worth trying.

"Thanks for telling me James, I thought I had feelings for you, but I recently realised that I didn't really, and I was just confused. I don't want to be with you, although I hope we can still remain friends." Kara added the last part trying to at least be polite.

"That's ridiculous Kara. If you don't like me then who is it. Not that blur guy?" James said and upon her slightly angered facial expression at James' intentional rudeness he knew he was right, "You can't actually care for that idiot. He is just some skinny dork that was struck by lightning and got some powers he never deserved, if I had his powered, I wouldn't be stupid enough to get stuck on another Earth. Anyway, that dimwit isn't ever coming back so I'm going to give us both the chance of forgetting this conversation happened and starting again. So, Kara, will you be my girlfriend?"

If she was angered before it was nothing to the fury she felt not. How could he say such things about Barry, he was strong, courageous, practically a genius and he was there for her when no-one else really was. He didn't look down at her for the Red-K incident but instead helped lift her to her feet. She couldn't believe James was like this, how had she not seen this before, regardless she wouldn't let someone speak about Barry like that, nor would she let him speak to her like that.

"Well thanks for opening my eyes to the truth James." Upon hearing this James perked up a bit and was wearing a prideful look as if he was always right and she was accepting that, "Before I couldn't see your vile side but now I can. Barry is a hundred times that man you will ever be and is definitely plenty times smarter. And yes, I love him, not you, and I care enough to wait for Barry but even if he never comes the time, we shared together made better memories than a lifetime with you ever could. I'm done with you, don't talk to me again and don't try and go mope about it to Clark because he will never take your side." Kara said with finality before turning and leaving his office abruptly, without waiting for a response.

Returning to her desk Winn asked her what had happened, so she explained it to him quietly and told him to cover for her as she left to go patrol the city and clear her mind. Winn was angered at what he heard and was immediately on her side and promised he would break all ties with James without her asking.

As she flew around the city, she called Kal to tell him what had happened before James could try and win him over onto his side, not that it would ever work. Despite the fact that she and her cousin hadn't spent that much time together they were family and that meant a lot on Krypton and it seemed that on Earth Kal had adopted a similar sentiment. After telling her cousin what had happened, he had offered for her to come up to Metropolis early and stay with him or come down to be with her, but she had declined. He then said he was going to go have a few choice words with James and make sure he never came close to him or her ever again but once again Kara declined saying that it wasn't necessary, and she was clear about staying away.

Clark had promptly blocked Jimmy and called and told Lois about it who did the same as well, he was enraged at the things Kara had said that James had said and he couldn't believe that when he asked the man he thought was a close friend to watch out for and make sure his cousin was okay, he had gone and been so vile and tried to use her to gain her power as his own.

Through the rest of the week Kara had avoided James which wasn't very difficult given he had been steering somewhat clear of her as well but by the looks she caught him giving her and a few things he mumbled under his breath that she heard she knew he hadn't let it go. Despite this she was fine knowing that she was perfectly able to take care of James and definitely made the right choice as Barry was better than anyone she had ever met and was practically perfect for her when James was the exact opposite.

As the week ended Kara flew over to Metropolis for her weekend with Clark and Lois. After the somewhat awkward conversation at first which was largely Clark and Lois ranting about what James did and what they wanted to do to him the weekend had been great. They had explored Metropolis and she had been able to spend some more time with her cousin as well as bond further with Lois given, she knew their secret and already was close beforehand. Over her stay she also got the chance to talk to Lois about Barry when Kal had ducked out to get some things from the supermarket which had helped given she had no other women to talk to about this with Alex gone and because it would just be awkward with Eliza.

Once she had returned to National City on Sunday night, she felt much better than before, the time away giving her the chance to calm down after all the things that had happened and come to better terms with her flooding emotions as she had been experiencing recently.

The next few months were relatively quiet without much happening, there was the occasional alien that had to be stopped as Supergirl but nothing too hard, plus the usual patrolling and protecting of the city. She had been able to regain the trust of the city by doing just as Barry said and keeping the good work up without worrying about it.

At work Winn and she were getting along as great as always although games night had become her and Winn watching movies at her place given, they were down their usual members. James had tried to get with her a few more times, progressively more forcefully but hadn't tried to outright harm her so she had just firmly rejected him each time although it was starting to grate on her nerves. Her work itself had been the usual madness that was being Ms Grant's assistance but was a pleasant distraction from everything and also a great way to avoid James sometimes.

Also throughout the months her thought of Barry and her counting down of the days for his return, whenever it may be, hadn't relented slightly and she had happily come to terms with the fact that she was falling in love with him after him only being there for such a short time and that he was worth the wait.

Despite all the positives, the absence of action from Non was somewhat worrying given she knew they were working on some big plan and she had tried to figure it out a few times with Winn and the DEO without success. She had to decided not to worry too much and conceded to just wait until something was given away and she could take action and do something. Until such a time came, she would simply to continue enjoying her time with Winn and her now more frequent visits to Clark and Lois as well as Clark's visits to see her, all whilst eagerly awaiting Barry's return.

**There you go, A quick detour to Earth-38.**

**BTW, I went pretty strong with Jimmy as a bad character, I never really liked his character in the TV show, so I kinda took it out on him in this. Sorry if you didn't like it. Also I was wondering whether you though I took Kara's affection for Barry a bit far, I wasn't sure as this is my first time writing this kinda stuff.**

**I was also thinking of adding an empathy or telepathy link between Barry and Kara and Kryptonian soulmates or something like that. Would you guys like that or not? (All credit for the idea goes to the story, 'Karry Universe' which is an amazin fanfic you just gotta read)**

**Spoilers:  
I changed the timeline so that Barry would come to Earth-38 during the Myriad events whilst having time for the Zoom stuff on his Earth.**

**See y'all next time :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

_Earth-1_

As Oliver arrived on the roof of one of the tallest high-rises in the city, offering a breathtaking view of the lit-up night skyline expanding across the horizon, he found Barry sitting on the edge of the roof and approached without trying to conceal himself, knowing Barry would know he was there regardless.

"Oliver. What brings you here?" Barry asked from where he was seated on the edge of the roof with his feet dangling over the 1200 ft drop.

Oliver sat next to Barry and turned to him, "Talk to me. Anyone can see you're going through a lot."

Barry gave out a half-grunt, half-chuckle sound at Oliver's oversimplification of the disaster his life had struck. "Look at me Oliver, I'm not Barry, I'm not The Flash, I have nothing left to be. The team, my work as The Flash, being a CSI, that was who I was, and I have none of it anymore. Sure, I could probably get my CSI job back, but it just wouldn't be the same. I used to always focus on the light at the end of the tunnel and it seems like the end of the tunnel just caved in." Barry spoke solemnly.

"I know you lost what defined you, but you can rebuild yourself, become something new. I'm not telling you to forget, just don't let it stop you, if you keep moving forwards the rest will sort itself out."  
"That's the thing Oliver. I feel like I had my shot, it was going great, but I fumbled and now my chance is over. I don't want to try again, it's hard enough to get up in the morning and the only thing I'm left holding onto is beyond my reach."  
"What do you mean, 'beyond your reach'? What's the only thing left?"  
Barry huffed in response, "You wouldn't believe me, sometimes I don't think it's true either."  
"Try me, I've seen enough shit, I'll judge for myself."  
"Well, before my father was killed by Zoom and everything started to fall apart, we had just constructed a tachyon device that we could use to largely increase my speed back then. We took it for a test run and I felt euphoric, I was so fast I finally had hope to defeat Zoom, I'd lost myself in the feeling of running so fast that by the time I noticed the portal forming in front of me, it was too late. And so, the next thing I know I'm on a different Earth, catching a young women who was falling out a window." Barry went on to explain what had transpired on Earth-38.

"So, you're telling me that you travelled to another universe and on that Earth, you befriended a super powerful alien superhero called Supergirl? What, and then you teamed up to take down some bad guys before skipping on back home like you went out for some groceries?" Oliver asked, somewhat bewildered.

"Pretty much." Barry responded, within a fit of laughter. It was good to see Barry laugh, as he hadn't in so long, although none of the happiness reached his eyes and it all sounded so hollow and empty.

"That's not all. I think I may be falling in love with Supergirl, she was so nice and bright, she made me feel more free than I ever have before. The thought of her was one of the only things that has gotten me through the past few months. When I'm stuck here, I just feel like everything I wanted is locked away from me and anything I can make here will just be a vain attempt at grasping something I'll never have."  
"What's the big barrier between the two of you, if it's a tachyon device you need to get to her then I'm sure with your super-genius-brain you can remake it. If you know what you want, don't wait around and let it all pass you by."  
"You don't get it Oliver. She's the perfect hero, the perfect person and maybe I had a chance in what felt like my last life, but now? Look at me, I'm broken, I'm not a hero, I destroyed my city. Why would she even want me? She could be with whoever she wants, I doubt she's ever going to be available, and definitely not for me."  
"You need to stop underestimating yourself Barry. You're still the same person you were before, you've just got a few more cuts and scrapes, those wounds will close one day, I know that because you are the strongest person I will ever know. Now tell me, where do you want to be when all's said and done? Here, still trying to make the life you could have in vain, or with this girl who you're obviously in love with?"  
"I-I… Oliver, I don't know what to do. I can't just leave this world and move to another, expecting her to love me the way I am right now."  
"Yes you can, you can do whatever you want when you put your mind to it Barry Allen because that's who you are. You're going to go to this other Earth and you're going to be your best self, and if this girl knows anything, she'll know you're the best person she'll ever find."  
"Are you sure? I don't want to abandon you."  
"You won't be abandoning us; you'll be moving next door and I'm sure you'll find time to make a house call once in a while."  
"…" Barry was pondering what he should do, not sure if he was capable of just leaving this world behind, "Ok then, I'll do it. But Oliver, if you ever need me, I'll make sure you can call, and I'll come straight away. I owe you everything I have; I would never have beaten Zoom without you."  
"I don't know about that but promise me one thing, try and leave all of this behind you, leave the suit that defines who you have become and create a new you. The best version of yourself."  
"I'll try Oliver, thank you. You will always be the brother I never had." Standing from where they were sitting the two embraced in a tight hug, expressing the emotions that they couldn't put into words.

"I'll build a communication device, then I'm off to build a new life." Barry spoke, the smallest hint of his once unquenchable optimism sparking in his eyes, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

The next split second all Oliver was left with was a gust of wind, despite this he had hope, hope for Barry that he would have the happily ever after he deserved. Oliver made a mental note for himself to one day meet the superhero that had captured Barry's heart so fully and so fast.

Barry raced into the Arrowcave and immediately got to work creating sketches and researching different properties of the multiverse and what would be required to send a message through it almost simultaneously.

At the beginning of that night Barry had practically given up, he wouldn't have killed himself as he couldn't leave others to suffer, that isn't who he is, but he had lost all hope of happiness. He believed Kara was far beyond his reach and only wished that she could be happy herself with whoever may bring her that and that maybe he would be able to meet her again one day.

After the conversation with Oliver, Barry had developed the hope and courage within him to try and be with Kara himself. If this worked for him, he would be forever grateful to Oliver for helping him muster what he could in order to make the leap in order to be with Kara and leave all his misery behind.

By the time morning came the next day Barry had already made weeks' worth of progress on the science behind the device and formulated a solid concept for what was actually required. He was developing a sim card that would be able to project a signal through the multiverse through certain energy and vibration patterns. He only had to finish the complex algorithms to fine tune the patterns and complete the copying machine that could transfer the application of a normal sim card onto the multiverse sims that he was going to leave here and take with him.

He hadn't yet perfected using a small scale signal projector to send the message so in order for it to work it would have to be plugged into the multiversal antenna type device he constructed which is more like a cube of metal that could fit in your hand, filled with necessary technology to apply and calculate the required patterns in real time. Whilst this would mean that they wouldn't be able to use their phones on the go easily, the cube could be attached to a computer with a sim in it and use that as a multiverse messaging hub to keep in contact if necessary. The cube could also store any messages that were sent over to one of the connected sims and then flash blue to alert anyone nearby to attach a device to read or hear the message.

Eager to take the leap across dimensions before any of his previous objections came back to stop him, Barry continued to work throughout the day on completing the algorithm. When Thea and Diggle had stopped by, they had made small conversation but soon left, unaware of what had happened the last night and clueless as to what he was doing now. On the other hand when Felicity came in she was both more inquisitive as to what he had done the last night, she had known he had finished his work in Central and is closer to him and therefore more concerned for his welfare, having seen through his façade almost as easily as Oliver by now. She was also able to see the level of complexity within the algorithm he was writing and was amazed at how advanced it was, the tech component of what he was creating had mostly made sense to her although all the science that it was achieving was beyond Felicity's understanding, although this wasn't surprising given the field of research only existed theoretically before the past few years and even that was only between his team and him. Felicity had sat with him for a while as he simultaneously typed on the computer, continuing to adjust the algorithm so that it was functional, and teaching her what he could in such a limited time, about the multiverse, the science behind the energy and vibrations within it and what he was designing.

Felicity had become curious after figuring out that Barry was generating a communication system that could transcend the multiverse and had berated him with questions on the necessity for such a thing. As a result, Barry was led to divulging all of what he had spoken to Oliver about last night, much to his surprise Felicity didn't doubt any of it for a second despite the absurdity of it. Instead she was almost overwhelmingly happy for the chance that he had and possibly also her chance to meet a blonde superhero alien that also wore glasses.

After Felicity had left Barry had further focused himself on what he was doing, stopping only for a short time to eat the huge amount of big belly burger, Oliver had brought with him, in record time. By the time he was finally finished it was almost midnight and the Arrowcave was empty, deciding he had to thank Thea, Felicity, Diggle and most importantly Oliver, before he left, Barry decided to stay the night, he was also in great need of sleep as he found when he instantly fell into a peaceful dreamless sleep when he laid on the cot that they had in the cave.

Despite his sleep being clear of the nightmares that often plagued him nowadays, Barry woke a decent while before dawn regardless and decided there were a few things he should do before leaving. After getting the few clothes that he had at the cave together, along with his wallet and the devices for multiverse communication that he needed to take with him, Barry shoved the now full back pack down on the cot and went on with his morning plans. First he improved the firewalls on the computers beyond the almost impenetrable state they were in due to Felicity, then he created a hidden back door within the servers where he moved every bit of multiverse and speedforce research and information he had, he knew Felicity could find and access it, but beyond her it should be completely secure. After that, still having a couple hours before sunrise and then a few more until Oliver and Felicity showed up, Barry decided to bid farewell to a few other people.

First, he raced across the country and seas, then through another continent before arriving within the Hindu Kush mountain ranges. Quickly following the path, he now knew by memory, Barry arrived at the doors to the League of Assassins within 10 minutes of leaving Star City. Pushing the heavy doors, that usually require two strong people to push them open with al their strength, open, Barry walked through the halls, approaching the pit/throne room where Nyssa would likely be training. Once Barry arrived silently, he observed Nyssa and the Alzilal training together in what looked like an extremely graceful free-for-all. Making himself known, Barry walked into the room with heavy footsteps that echoed off the polished marble floors.

"Nyssa, brothers, sisters." Barry said in a polite voice as he tilted slightly into a bow.

"There is no need for that" Nyssa said as they all stopped what they were doing and formed together behind her, "I saw what happened in Central, I am sorry for what happened to your city but I must say, you made us proud." Nyssa said this whilst gesturing to the Alzilal, herself included.

"I couldn't have done it without your help and training" Barry responded, addressing everyone in the room, "I come baring news of what the future holds for me." Nyssa simply answered with a go-on like gesture.

"As you know from my explanation of Zoom during my training, he came from an alternate universe, a different Earth that we named Earth-2, us being Earth-1. What I didn't tell you was that during my training I also accidentally travelled to another Earth, due to its location in the multiverse it was named Earth-38. Whilst I was there, I met some people who I became close to in the short time I spent there. I have little left of my life on this Earth and therefore I am going to move and live on Earth-38. I wanted to come here before I left for three reasons. Firstly, to thank you all once again for helping me do what I had to, to protect Earth and avenge those I cared for. Secondly, I wanted to say goodbye and tell you where I was going, and lastly, I wanted you all to know that if any of you, or the League as a whole, may ever need my help, I am only one call away." Barry said this whilst handing another one of the multiverse communication devices that he built over to Nyssa whilst explaining what it was and how to use it.

After he finished, he was met with an embrace from each of the Alzilal along with bids of farewell and good fortune. Finally, only Nyssa was left, the two embraced each other in a tight hug as Nyssa wished him good luck and told him that she would be there for him on either Earth whenever he needed. Despite not having put it into such words, Barry and Nyssa had formed a sibling-like relationship after their initial mentor-mentee/torturer-victim relationship, Nyssa herself, being the formidable leader of the League, had very few friends she could trust and cared for and Barry was one of them. As they broke apart Barry gave Nyssa a firm nod, not trusting his voice due to his emotional turmoil at the moment, having grown similarly close to the woman that took him from what was once an optimistic hero to a terrifying warrior. After one last glance over those present Barry turned and sped of back towards Star City.

On the way back to the Arrowcave for his final farewells, Barry made a stopover in Central at the CCPD. Running into the department that was filled with an exhausted night crew, Barry was hit with memories from happier times, fighting crime with Joe and ditching work to save the city as the Flash. Running up into the crime lab Barry could see that all the things he previously had here were cleared out and someone had made it their own with their stuff littered across the lab. Barry took one last glace at the lab before throwing on his hood and subtly making his way downstairs and into Captain Singh's office, unnoticeable to the officers within the station. As Barry stood in the empty office, he reflected upon his time at the CCPD, he had been so young when he started, trying to get his father released and do some good in the world whilst he was at it. Whilst the captain had been tough on Barry a lot, not that he never deserved it having often been late to work or crime scenes, he had always done so, so that Barry could be better, he had seen potential in him to do something before anyone else did and they mostly only saw him as Central City's famous hero. Joe had been telling him to let go of his fantasy of getting his father released, Iris always thought he was a clumsy nerd, his father had believed in him but didn't want him becoming a CSI to get him out, Singh on the other hand never had any of these, he just support the clumsy genius that had been hired as a CSI straight out of university. For all of that Barry thought that he deserved a proper explanation.

That brought him to where he was now, sitting at his old captains' desk with the shades drawn and light off to stop people from noticing. The room was only faintly lit from the street light outside and Barry required his League training to see clearly in the darkness. Barry picked up one of the pens and opened Singh's notepad that was on his desk.

_Dear Captain Singh,_

_This is Barry Allen, sorry for breaking into your station and office but I thought you deserved an explanation. What you do with it is up to you._

_As you know I was struck by lightning when the particle accelerator exploded at STAR Labs, I was sent into a coma and didn't wake for over 9 months. What you may not have known was that the lightning changed me, it gave me powers, at first I was scared and didn't know what was going on but when I figured it out, with the help of some friends from STAR Labs that treated me whilst I was in a coma, I knew what I was going to do. _

_You saw the potential for me to do good when I was just a new CSI, before almost anyone else did and it was your inspiration to do good regardless of who I was amongst some other things that motivated me to become the Flash. I know we had some differing perspectives at times over what I did as the Flash but all I wanted to do was protect those who couldn't protect themselves._

_I don't know what you think of me now, especially after all that just happened but here is the full explanation. Zoom, or Hunter Zolomon, his real name, is a speedster like me and he wanted to take over the world and be the most powerful person he possibly could. He knew I would always try to stop him, so he started by trying to defeat me, a lot happened in our fighting and I lost my father to him as well as my powers themselves at one stage. Zoom then decided that the best way to win was to destroy me internally before killing me. That led to him killing my team, my family, yes, he killed Joe and Iris, Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramone. Everything I loved was gone and then he told me he would be back later to finish me, I couldn't give up, not on those who died and definitely not on those who were still alive. I trained the best I could and when the time came we fought, I did all I could to protect everyone whilst we fought and am happy that I was able to succeed in doing so but after everything, I wasn't the Flash anymore, not in almost everyone's eyes, including my own._

_I repaired the city in hopes that some people will be able to remember the Flash as a hero and protector, so that I can inspire the good in people even after I am gone but my time is up here. I am leaving, going far away to start fresh and hopefully make a new life for myself, be happy again. If you or the city ever need me, you can ask Oliver Queen but if that never happens then this is goodbye._

_Thank you for making me the best I could have been._

_Kind Regards,_

_Barry Allen (The Flash)_

Finishing the note, Barry placed the note pad down, open in the middle of the desk and silently ran through the wall of his office and back to Star City and the Arrowcave for his last goodbyes before his current life ended and new life began.

As Barry returned to the cave the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon, bathing Star City's streets in an orange glow. After entering the Arrowcave, Barry went over the things he had packed and threw in some nutrition bars that were in the Arrowcave for an emergency. Walking out into the main section of the cave, Barry walked over and stood in front of the manikin that held the suit he made, that suit would always represent what he had become in order to stop Zolomon and wouldn't allow him to move on. He was glad that he was able to leave the past few months behind physically through the suit.

As he was standing looking at the suit and reflecting upon all it represented, Barry noticed a presence approaching him but was able to immediately identify it as Oliver.

"Hey, you ready?" He asked as he walked up beside him.

"I think I am, I guess I'll just have to find out."

"That's the spirit. I have something for you, a going away present." Oliver said holding out a rectangular black box that was previously held behind his back. Barry took it and moved around to the bench behind him, placing the box on the bench he lifted the lid and put it to the side of the box.

Looking into the box Barry found what looked like his normal Flash suit but it was slightly altered, the suit looked like it was more armoured and tough than the previous one, it looked as though it was more of a combat suit than before. Barry picked it up and felt the material, the feel of it backed up his analysis, it felt strong yet retained enough flexibility to avoid hindering his running. The suit looked to be made perfectly leading him to wonder where Oliver got it, he wasn't exactly renowned for his suit making abilities.

As if reading his mind, Oliver answered his question, "When I went to get you some things whilst you were out after the fight, I stopped by STAR Labs. It turns out Cisco had been making it and it was already complete and hidden in his lab. I figured that someday you would probably want to become the Flash again and would need a suit, I'm glad I could give you this, you can remember your team and who you were, but it is also a new design. You can both remember who you were and recreate who you now will be."  
"Thanks Oliver." Barry said, bringing him into a brotherly embrace. Barry figured he would be better off jumping universe in his suit in case someone saw him on the other side, so he raced off and got changed before returning.

"Cisco really outdid himself on this one. It's perfect, doesn't hinder my movement and feels strong enough to shield me from a few hard hits." Barry told Oliver once he returned.

"Well that's good but don't be taking too many hits. At least not when I'm not there to watch." Oliver said with a grin spreading across his face. Barry chuckled in response and nodded his head along with a promise that he would almost definitely break knowing his luck and line of work.

As they calmed down the elevator doors opened revealing Felicity, Diggle and Thea who had come early knowing he was going to be leaving for another Earth that morning.

As they emerged from the elevator, they noticed Barry wearing his new suit, none of them had been aware of him having the suit so were quite surprised. After how he had been since everything that went down none of them had expected him to ever look so similar to how he did before but as per usual Barry never failed to surprise them.

"Damn Barry, that suit looks awesome, although I gotta say the other one is more intimidating." Digg said after taking it in.

"You look hotter in this one." Thea supplied causing Oliver to once again give her a scathing look only for her to half-giggle, half-chuckle which was accompanied by Digg and Felicity's suppressed laughter.

"I guess there is no point in delaying this, Barry you've done amazingly here and I'm sure this new Earth will love you and so will this superheroine. I'd love to meet her by the way, she must be so awesome." Felicity was getting lost on a tangent before being alerted to the fact by Oliver's coughing, "Oh, umm yeah, don't be a stranger Bar, so goodbye for now." Felicity finished with a blush and then pulled him into a tight embrace before moving back.

Digg stepped up next, "I'm not gonna lie, I didn't like you at first, my life was already weird enough before you. But then you showed me that no matter how weird it gets there's always both good ad bad, and I must say you're one of the best Barry. Good luck and I'll see you next time Oliver screws something up, so soon." Diggle said with a chuckle, Oliver's indignant "hey" brought the rest of them into a fit of laughter before they sobered up. Digg then gave Barry a firm handshake and clapped him on the shoulder before moving back.

Thea then came up, "It's a shame you got a girl waiting for you on some other Earth, you seem to get hotter each time I see you." She said jokingly, whilst it annoyed Oliver to no end every new they were more like close friends or siblings than anything like that, "I want to make sure this girl has what it takes, you deserve the best Bar, so you bring her around some time, hey? Anyway, good luck and don't trip over on the way." They laughed and shared a hug before she moved back with a bright smile on her face.

Despite it being sad for everyone that Barry was parting ways no one was truly sad as they knew they would see him again and that this was what was best for him, his chance to be happy. Oliver came up last, the two having already shared most of their goodbyes, they simply embraced in a brotherly hug before pulling back. "Call anytime if you need us and find your happiness." Oliver practically commanded.

Barry smiled in response, "Of course, I'll see you all soon enough. The same goes for all of you if you ever need me, don't get yourselves killed." Barry then gave each of them a last smile before grabbing his bag and leaving the cave before any of the others could even feel the wind from his speed hit them.

Barry ran out to the fields between Central and Star City where he had previously tested his speed and started to run, feeling the vibrations of his universe flowing though him he altered them and as a result a breach formed in front of him. Without hesitation, Barry raced into the breach his mind focused on Earth-38, and more specifically, upon Kara, the woman he was falling in love with ever since meeting in that desert after he caught her.

As he sped into the breach, he found himself surrounded by the usual tunnel of blue energy and light that surged around him, he pushed forward, towards Earth-38 ignoring what was going on around him. Soon he felt himself emerge from the passage that seemed to be both silent and deafening at the same time. As he came out the other side, he looked around himself only to find that he wasn't on Earth-38 as intended, instead he found himself in the eye of a raging, violent storm.

David Singh had been having a difficult time the past few months, not only had crime taken a rise across the city with the absence of the Flash, but his CSI, Barry Allen and not long later one of his detectives, Joe West had gone missing. This brought along huge issues when facing metahumans as they were often the two to solve those cases. Many didn't notice but he knew that it was often Barry's skill as a CSI that solves even the most unsolvable cases they faced; he had never seen someone so skilled although unfortunately that skill came along with frustrating tardiness.

Without the CSI or one of his top detectives the CCPD had been struggling, even once they got a new CSI in, he wasn't as skilled as Barry even with his 8 years of experience in Keystone's police department and they had been facing many cases that no one could properly crack with the limited leads. Despite all this, they had begun to recover from having all of this dropped out on them recently and were on track to at least get things running smoothly again, even if Central wouldn't be as safe as before when they had the Flash.

Not long after the beginning of the CCPD's recovery the city was struck by a huge catastrophe, the Flash had returned in a massive battle between him and another person like him. Their practical war had torn apart large portions of the city and had caused panic on a huge scale. Despite the damage Singh hadn't overlooked the fact that almost no one was harmed and no one died, he knew the Flash had done this on purpose and regardless of whether he returned or not, when the media came to him asking for him to out the Flash as a public enemy he had stood by the hero he once had opposed.

Not long later Oliver Queen, the previous, and thought to be missing, mayor of Star City made a huge announcement that brought about huge change in the perspective of the media and almost everyone across America. People had been hesitant at first, him included, to believe the word of the once playboy billionaire, but they had come to believe him and what he had to say rather quickly. Then came the worry of how to repair all the damage only for it to have been responded by some mystery person that went unseen who repaired all the damage that had been done city wide in week.

Singh had agreed with many of the assumptions that it was the Flash doing this but was unaware of ow he was doing so undetected, though he didn't really care too much on the how of it. He was optimistic for the return of Central's hero, both for the safety of people and to relieve some of the stress from the CCPD that came with his absence but after that fight and everything that followed, he knew he was being optimistic.

He wouldn't have been able to get through this without the support of his husband, Rob, who had helped him deal with all the mounting stress. Heading into the station that morning he greeted each of the policemen that he passed on the way towards his office, once he entered, he noticed, after putting his bag down on one of the chairs, that his notepad had been moved. The notepad contained some information about the CCPD he wouldn't want to get out so he was appropriately concerned as he rushed over to check if he could figure out what they had wanted. Picking up the notepad he found a note had been left for him and as he started reading, he was shocked at what it contained. Sitting down he finished reading the note before putting the notepad down on the chair and leaning back in his chair.

He had thought that Barry could have been the Flash once or twice but almost immediately dismissed it, now that he knew it seemed so obvious. He didn't really know what to think after all he had read, Joe was dead, so was the rest of Barry's friends and family. He wished he had of known and could have helped but he knew that he wouldn't have been able to do much, if anything. Singh decided not to tell anyone about this except for Rob, he couldn't endanger anyone Barry had been in contact with. Instead he'd make sure to create a secret case in which Joe would have died along with the others that he mentioned, this would make sure their deaths would be recognised, it would also explain why Barry had gone missing and wouldn't return. Lastly it would allow for him to create the recognition for the two that they deserved.

**Another one bites the dust, hope you enjoyed this chapter,**

**I know you're all probably looking forward to Barry getting to Earth-38 and i had planned to do it this chapter but i got caught up in a few things as you can tell. I decided to include the Singh bit at the end to wrap up the whole Zoom arc and all that happened from an outside perspective and because i like his character, what did you guys think of it?**

**Thank you to those who reviewed, I love hearing your opinions and it helps motivate me to write more.**

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

As Barry emerged into the violent storm, he immediately come to a stop looking all around him before recognising where he was. As the storm seemed to adjust to his presence it calmed down into a distant rushing of wind with orange lightning regularly arcing through it.

As Barry waited for the arrival of the speedforce entity as had happened each time he was here he took the chance to focus on his connection here. Doing this he felt a feeling he never had before, he felt more connected to his surroundings, like the storm itself existed within him as well. As he drew in some power and let it flow through him, he found that he was able to do it so easily whilst here that he felt as if he could do anything.

A clapping sound approached from his left and he turned to see Caitlin, but he knew it wasn't actually her, she came to a stop near him as did her clapping. "Ahh, Bartholomew, we meet again. You have impressed us greatly which is no simple act given we transcend time and space. Your advanced connection to the speedforce has enabled you to craft your own path beyond the bonds of the timeline. When major changes are made time usually attempts to correct itself, but you were able to change the stream itself using the powers of the speedforce. You were meant to have died defeating Zoom long ago in this timeline and never in any timeline had you developed the connection you have to the speedforce as you have now, and you clearly aren't done yet."  
Barry simply nodded along not wanting to interrupt an entity that could likely mess with his life a lot if they wanted, "You see, I believe it is time for a you to learn more about the speedforce. Each speedster is created by us but we are unable to choose the speedster, if there is an imbalance in the power we try and right it by creating a speedster but we can just as easily create another evil one, our connection to the universes across the multiverse isn't so that we can directly affect the events, we are like a separate entity and can only interact through speedster we create. Furthermore, each speedster we create is different, these differences usually aren't obvious for most as very few speedster grow to the power you hold, well very few will, you see you are the first to have become this powerful. Hunter Zolomon, or Zoom, for example, his powers were strong but his speed had developed within him to be more receptive to the effect of Velocity, the drug greatly increasing his speed and strength but also costing him his health and he would have been destroyed without getting your speed to balance himself. Eobard Thorne, the Reverse Flash, his speed was better altered by the tachyon enhancer and whilst his connection wasn't as strong as yours or Zoom's was he was strong enough to draw more into him but this contributed to his injuries and loss of speed due to the strain it put on his body. Here is where you come in, you aren't like Thawne or Zolomon, your powers are the only ever to exist like this, at least in the time we have seen but you could create a new timeline with others like you, your powers are the purest ever seen. The different enhancers don't boost you as well as the others, you can draw raw energy from the speedforce which no one else has ever done, this energy has great and destructive powers such as destroying Zoom but even more beyond that. You have the potential beyond others to draw more powers into yourself and let it flow through you and manipulate it with more control then we have seen before. We are unaware what made your speed develop like this as it didn't in other timelines, but it has in the one that is being formed now."  
Barry was shocked to hear that he had the potential to be more powerful than any other speedster to exist.

"Many have underestimated the power of the speedforce, even speedsters, the speedforce has an almost unlimited potential that we believe one day you may be able to harness yourself. No speedster before have even reached a hundredth of the speed of light and not even we know what would happen if you managed too but that it your path to create."  
Barry nodded rapidly processing the information and still only partially understanding the extent of his powers or the other information he was being told.

"Is that all you wanted to tell me? Why did you stop me from going where I was going?" Barry asked the entity before him.

"No, we also wanted to thank you for the service you have done in preventing Zoom from destroying balance across the multiverse. Also, we wanted to inform you that no previous potential timeline had involved you moving to Earth-38 and that whilst we won't stop you, we don't know what hardships you may have to face in the future. If you are to stay on your Earth, we can almost guarantee that you will only face two more significant enemies before you retire or die."  
"I'll take my chances, what's the point in staying on my Earth if what I truly desire is on another. I will face what I have to, to have the chance to try for a life on Earth-38."  
"Well then best of luck Bartholomew. Know that there is nothing that can stop you but yourself."  
With that strange sentiment the speedforce Caitlin faded into the raging storm and Barry allowed the speedforce to channel through him whilst he was here one more time before speeding forward and focusing once again on his desired destination.

As Barry run through the tunnel of swirling energy, that was almost becoming a familiar place for him, he again broke through the other end of his path, like emerging from the inside of a crashing wave, he re-merged with the real world except this one was not the usual world but a new one, a new beginning.

Barry came out in the desert where he had both entered and exited Earth-38 the last time and quickly raced into the city, keeping his speed low as to not create huge sonic booms that would result in drawing attention and shattering windows all around when he made it to the city. As he entered National City it looked just as he remembered it although something about it was definitely different, racing through the streets he found that people were walking around like mindless drones as if controlled by some hive mind. Avoiding allowing them to see him clearly, he instead raced to Kara's apartment knowing she would probably have an explanation and also really wanting to see her again.

When he arrived, he found the place looking empty and he quickly looked in her bedroom to see the box where she usually stored her supersuit under the bed, pulled out with the lid off and empty. Both worried for the safety of National City's citizens and extremely worried for Kara's safety Barry raced across into the desert to the DEO base and made a quick run through. As phased through the walls without stopping to be noticed he found everyone there were similarly acting like mindless drones and many were sitting at different screens typing in some strange language.

With no sign of Kara here either, even after making a quick bolt through the walls and checking on each of the cells just in case, Barry ran off at a much faster speed but still low enough to not cause sonic booms heading to Catco, Kara's work. As Barry ran, he prayed to whoever was out there that Kara was at Catco or that she was at least safe, he didn't know what he would do if someone had hurt her, but it would definitely be bloody.

_National City_

**Earlier That Day**

Kara had woken up to the loud beeping of her alarm and groaned after having been awoken from a pleasant dream she was having, hanging out with Barry with Winn and Alex. Swinging her arm, she turned off the alarm clock, careful not to break it after the last 4 that she had in anger at being woken from dreams where Barry had returned.

Realising she was going to be late to work at this rate and not wanting to test Ms Grant's patience Kara got up in a hurry and raced around the apartment, making short work of having a shower, brushing her hair almost a hundred times in a couple seconds to make her iconic smooth, golden curls, apply a small amount of makeup, doing her teeth and grabbing some toast for breakfast on the way to work. As she headed out the door, hands already loaded with her work bag and breakfast Kara pushed her glasses onto her face from the stand next to the door and put her hair back in a ponytail using the hairband that was next to her glasses. As she left her apartment only about 10 minutes after waking up Kara rushed out of the building and made quick work of getting to work whilst getting her and Winn a coffee as well as Ms Grant's regular on the way.

Arriving at Catco she made it just in time, after handing Winn his coffee with a distracted "good morning", she moved off and put her things down at her desk. She then turned around as the private elevator binged and opened to reveal Cat in her usual graceful state, ignoring all the people around her and making a b-line to her office. She grabbed her coffee from Kara and Kara then followed her into her office, closing the pristine, clear glass door behind her.

"Morning Kiera, have you heard the news?" Cat continued as if she never asked the question in the first place, "Oprah wants to do an interview on her charity for the leadership academy and has agreed to do it with me rather than Perry White over at the Daily Planet." Ms Grant said this in an uncharacteristically cheerful voice although she had always taken great satisfaction in beating her cousin's boss at anything.

After being told a few things she had to organise and prepare for the day for Ms Grant, Kara left the office and returned to her desk where she slowly drank her coffee whilst talking to Winn, fortunately unnoticed by Ms Grant then got to work on her day's tasks. Regularly, as it had been since he came here, Kara regularly found her mind drifting off into thought about Barry and imagining him coming back to see her, but she persevered with her work and pushed the thought aside for now. She noticed James lurking around the floor somewhat suspiciously although his leering was quite obvious.

Seeing him, Winn came over to her desk, "Hey, do you want to go grab lunch or something?"

"Sure, let me just grab my stuff." Kara grabbed her bag and headed to the elevator with Winn. The two went to lunch at a burger place nearby where Kara ate twice the amount that Winn did and still finished before he was halfway through.

"I'm sorry about James, you sure you don't want me to do something about him?" Winn offered.

Kara wasn't sure what Winn had in mind to do to him and despite her curiosity she turned his offer down, "Thanks but I'm fine, anyway, if he does something stupid, I can tell him myself or tell Clark who'd certainly do something drastic."  
"Ok then, we should probably head back into work before Cat notices we're missing and throws a fit." Winn said as if explaining a kid having a tantrum.

Laughing, the two headed back into Catco, Kara having picked up Ms Grant's salad on the way back. When they got up James was gone much to Kara's relief and so she entered Ms Grant's office and gave her the salad after drizzling the dressing across it.

"humph" Ms Grant grunted what she took as a 'thank you' before looking up from whatever she was typing, "Kara I want you to go and tell this woman who has been harassing Catco about false content or something to mind her own business and go away. You can go home afterwards; I'm heading out this afternoon." Not waiting for a reply, she returned to her work.

Kara, used to this, simply nodded ad made her way out the door, happy to have the afternoon off. She told Winn what she was doing before she left, flying across the city, Kara was at the address Ms Grant had given her within minutes. The woman had been like the stereotypical 'crazy cat lady' even having a cat across her shoulders and in her arms when she answered the door. Kara had politely conveyed Ms Grant's message whilst trying to appease the woman despite the fact that she was almost certain that her claims were bogus.

Kara soon escaped the woman's home that she had ended up being invited into and made her way back to her own apartment. When she got back, she heated up a frozen pizza in the microwave, already hungry since her early lunch. As the food heated, she used her superhearing to reach out across the city looking for anything that identified trouble, calling for her to help out as Supergirl.

Once the pizza was done a few minutes later Kara hadn't heard anything that indicated a need for her so she decided to sit on the couch and eat her pizza whilst watching Brooklyn nine-nine distractedly whilst doodling Barry's name and face in what used to be her notepad for work but had become her doodling book. After finishing her Pizza Kara had continued watching the show whilst doodling, deciding to take a break for the day from patrolling the city given she couldn't hear any need for her. A while later, after her third episode of the show and a few pages of her notepad, Kara turned the TV off and got her phone to text Winn and see if he had anything they could do together as Kara was bored and wanted to distract herself from thoughts of Barry which brought the joy of her budding love for him but sadness due to his absence.

She didn't get a text back from Winn after 15 minutes which supposed her given, he was almost always had his phone on him. As she grew curious, she realized that, that wasn't the only strange thing, reaching out her superhearing once again she realised that the city was far quieter than it usually is, and she couldn't hear any talking anywhere across the city.

Growing worried she donned her supersuit and flew from the window to explore the city, what she found both shocked and scared her, not a single person seemed to be acting naturally. They were acting like drones, serving the will of some higher power without a single thought for themselves. People could be seen walking down the middle of the streets in straight lines and those who weren't she saw typing on different screens. Approaching someone she saw on a computer at an internet café she found that the writing was in Kryptonian and was shocked a before she figured out what must have happened. Somehow Non had taken control of everyone here, this must have been his plan all along, what for, she didn't know but would definitely find out.

Kara flew down to her cousin's Fortress of Solitude and as she came in, she asked Kelex to tell her everything that he had on Myriad and how to stop it but was refused any aid. Frustrated, Kara turned to leave shouting, "Why won't anyone help me."  
She spun around quickly when she heard a response in the voice of her mother, "Hello dear"  
Her mother's hologram then proceeded by explaining what Myriad was and how it was extremely dangerous in its ability to enslave entire races.

Kara was shocked by all of this and understood how dire humanity's situation really was. Racing out of the fortress, Kara rushed to get back to National and find a way to stop Myriad before it is too late.

Kara rushed into Catco hoping to find someone to help her at least use the computers there to figure out how wide-spread this was. Once she arrived, she found Cat's office empty but everyone else, including Winn, were sitting at their desks doing the same as the guy in the internet café.

Kara then saw the news alerts running on one of the TV's that showed general Lane talking about having a perimeter set up around National City, but they weren't moving in. She then chose to call General Lane and explained the situation she saw his daughter in at the DEO before enforcing the need for his to keep people outside the city.

Happy that the situation was limited to National City and not greater in size she quickly messaged her cousin telling him to check out what was going on and come over, having some backup against the other kryptonian soldiers definitely wouldn't hurt.

As she finished messaging Clark, she heard the elevator bing and the doors opened to reveal Cat who seem completely ignorant to what had happened to the city. "Ms Grant?" Kara asked wondering why she didn't seem effected.

"Yes?" She said looking up from her phone, her widened eyes showing when she took her sunglasses off seeing Supergirl, "ahh, Supergirl, to what do I owe the pleasure."  
"Have you not noticed how everyone is acting strange?" Kara inquired in disbelief.

"Well, I just thought everyone finally listened to me and started doing decent work." She said looking around the room before seeming to acknowledge their actions were slightly weird.

"What is going on?" She asked.

"It seems someone has taken control over everyone in National City and are making them do something. For some reason you're the only one I've seen not affected." Supergirl answered.

"Well that's certainly strange." Cat said heading towards her office wearing a puzzled expression.

Next thing they knew the elevator binged once again and out came Maxwell Lord, not effected by whatever this was either, causing Kara to sigh in disappointment. "What? Not happy to see me Supergirl?" Lord inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Kara huffed before responding, "Not particularly. Why aren't you effected by whatever this is?"

"Well you see, last night I caught onto what Non was doing with my satellites and quickly made these ion blocking devices, interrupting the controlling signals being projected across National City." He said indicating to a hearing-aid-looking device behind his ear. "It looks like this is only the start and he is going to expand the signal across the entire world. We need to stop this before he does so, and humanity is enslaved."  
"Then how come neither Ms Grant nor I am affected?" Kara asked.

"That would be because you are an alien and the signal is designed to effect human's minds not yours. And Cat I see you are wearing the earrings I sent you last night." He said with a smirk.

Ms Grant, catching onto what he was saying replied, "I see, ion blockers in the earrings, but how did you know I would wear them?" Cat questioned him.

"I just know you, don't I?" Maxwell answered in his usual cocky tone, frustrating Kara that she had to put up with him but glad for the, undeniably genius, man's help.

"So, I'd assume you have a plan then, Lord?" Kara questioned him wanting to get on track and do something about Non.

"Of course, I do. We kill them all."  
"What!" Kara yelled in response.

"Well, if we explode a kryptonite device over the city it would irradiate the atmosphere and kill all the Kryptonian's behind this although the explosion would kill about half of National City's population."  
"That's almost 2 million people. We can't just kill them all." Kara answered, shocked at the lengths Lord was willing to go to.

"Plus, it would kill Supergirl, we can't have that after I worked so hard to make her who she is." Cat butted into the conversation.

"That's what needs to be done. What's 2 million people compared to the entire population becoming mindless slaves. I swore to do what I could to save the city and that's exactly what I'm going to do."  
"That's ridiculous." Cat said before looking towards Kara, "You aren't seriously considering this are you?" She questioned.

Kara didn't know what to say, she would never wish to kill 2 million people, not even a single person, but if that's what it takes to save the entire human race then what was she to do.

Before the conversation could continue to escalate Kara felt her phone buzz in her pocket and quickly pulled it out to see Clarks message that read, 'I'm on my way'.

"Is that your phone. I'd like your number, and who is it?" Cat said seeing her pull her phone out.

"My cousin, Superman, he's on his way here." Kara responded.

"I'll take his number too." Cat answered.

They all moved out on the balcony as Kara looked in each direction whilst searching with her supersight and superhearing for her cousin. As she heard her cousin and soon spotted him coming towards them, she answered Cat and Maxwell's questioning gaze by pointing in that direction. In a few more seconds they could all see the blur of Superman approaching and stepped back slightly.

As he entered the city, he flew towards them and they stepped back further to leave him space to land on the balcony. When he landed on the balcony with a thud Kara could tell the shock he had at seeing the city like this and upon his questioning gaze towards her she introduced the two next to her.

Clark was worried to say the least having seen an entire city acting like mindless drones and was even more anxious when he landed and found that his cousin was working with Maxwell Lord to fix this. He didn't have personal experience with the man but had heard plenty of scathing comments and stories about him from Kara. Pushing away his anger at some of the things Kara had told me he had done to hurt his 'baby cousin' Clark then asked what had happened.

Kara proceeded to explain the events that had led them to where they were, including the fact that the DEO was also being controlled and that General Lane had set up a perimeter around the city with no one coming in. When he was told of Lord's plan to explode Kryptonite over the city, resulting in Kara's death and his own as well as 2 million civilians he had to focus hard to calm himself and not incinerate the man with his heat vision.

Once he was caught up on the events and introduced to the others Kara led them back inside and they continued to discuss any possible ways that they could find to defeat this situation, but little was coming to mind.

As they were talking, they heard something land outside on the same balcony they were on before and after turning around, came face to face with Non.

"Ahh, niece, nephew." He said greeting Kara and Clark, "A pleasure to meet you Superman, now I give you one final offer, both of you. You can join me, and you can reunite with your Kryptonian brethren or you can fight me, and I'll be forced to end you." He said acting as if he didn't just threaten her life.

Kara stepped forward, "We will never side with you, you are enslaving an entire race, this is our planet too and we won't let you destroy it."  
"We are not destroying it, we are saving it. Myriad has put aside every little feud and argument. We have removed all violence and hate, resolved all political issues. Now with everyone's mind working together they can come up with solutions to save their planet and stop killing it." Non explained.

"This isn't saving a planet. It is enslaving it and we won't stand by and let it happen." Clark stated with finality.

"Very well, I think you may need a demonstration then Supergirl. As he said that she saw Winn and another co-worker of hers that she didn't know the name of stand up and walk towards different balconies.

"What are you doing? Stop it." Kara demanded, "Winn, Winn can you hear me? You need to be strong, snap out of it Winn, please." Kara begged Winn to no result.

She then turned back to Non and noticed James come out and go towards a different balcony, "You see you can only save three of them, so who shall you save, those you love or those you don't. You are just as selfish as the rest of us. You may want to save the world, but you will always put yourself first." Non said.

She then saw each of them stand on the ledges before leaning back simultaneously and dropping. Kara raced out the window after Winn and sped down to catch him before catching James, but she was too far from the last person to catch her. Kara set the two she caught on the ground but was relieved when she looked up to see Clark setting down the last person.

"Good catch baby cus." Kal said to her as they walked over to each other before leaping back up through the balcony.

"You may have had your cousin this time, but you will not always niece. You still caught those you were close to rather those you weren't. You have 4 hours to concede and join us or you will be our enemy and if you act, we will end you, both" He added the last bit, nodding towards Clark before leaping out another window and flying off.

Once Non had left the two Supers walked over to the others, Cat looking shocked at what had occurred and Lord simply looking amused. "Well the options seem clear cut, we either leave the human race to be enslaved or we kill the few to save the many." Kara was disgusted by the idea once again but couldn't find a way to object it, Clark facing similar trouble.

The four of them retreated into Cat's office and Max opened a link to General Lane and after some time got the permission from the president herself to give the go ahead on activating the kryptonite explosive. After getting this, he looked up at both the Supers, Cat having left to another part of the building for who knows what. "Well there you go, even the president approves of the plan that will save the human race." He stated as if all was said and done and nothing would change the course of events from then on.

"How did you become like this?" Kara asked.

"Did I ever tell you how my parents died?" Lord replied.

"Alex told me they died due to faulty Hazmat suits supplied by the government." Kara answered.

"Yes, they did but what I didn't tell your lovely sister was that I knew they were faulty, and I begged both the government and my parents to scrap them, but no one wanted to listen to the know-it-all. They failed and my parents died, from that day I swore that I would do whatever it takes if I could save someone, not wait for permission and have them die."

"We are all more alike then you would like to think, you do it every time you jump out the window to save people. We act"

"I certainly hope not." Kara answered with a face of disgust.

Clark wore a similar face and upon seeing the large threatening superhero, Max looked back at Kara, "I'll be at my lab preparing the explosive that will save the human race." He then brushed between them and moved out of the building.

Kara faced Clark with a look of desperation and despair, "What are we going to do? I can't let that many people die but I can't allow the human race to be enslaved." Kal drew her into a hug, he more than anyone knew the stresses that faced people in their line of work.

The two cousins discussed the situation for a while without coming up with any solution and were soon interrupted by Ms Grant re-entering her office inquiring as to what their plan was.

"We haven't been able to come up with anything, Max is at his lab prepping the explosive." Kara said despairingly.

"You know what I love about this view from my office." Cat said as she walked out onto the balcony followed by Kara, Clark staying behind trying to find a solution, "It's the park, all the mothers pushing around strollers, kids playing in the playground. Which of them will die when you irradiate the city."  
"I don't know what to do, I need to save as many people as I can." Kara responded.

"My mother faced this same situation back on my home world." Kara went on to explained how Astra had tried to deploy myriad on Krypton and her mother had imprisoned her for it, but the world ended up being destroyed anyway.

Cat processed the information and was trying to come up with a solution, meanwhile Kara was gazing across the city, the streets were lit with the lights from windows with everyone having returned home and the sun haven fallen a while ago.

As Kara peered over the streets of the city, she was trying to save she noticed a streak of colour in the corner of her vision but upon focusing on it there was nothing there. As she scoured the city for whatever she had seen she noticed a streak of orange lightning dart between two buildings and simply sighed. Now if ever she wanted to see Barry but there was no one that could be him, she chuckled to herself at imagining Barry was here.

"What are you sighing about? Something to share Supergirl?" Cat prompted.

"Just wish I had one of my friends with me to deal with this, but he moved a long way away just after I met him." Kara said with an almost dreamy look in her eyes.

"I see, the Girl of Steel has fallen in love. Well tell whoever this mystery man is that I want to meet him once we save the city."  
Kara blushed a deep red and started trying to convince Cat that wasn't what was happening but was soon distracted by the same streak of colour in her periphery.

Kara's spiel, denying her obvious feelings was cut mid-sentence as she intently stared out over the streets. Her heart began pumping faster as she scoured the city from her perspective. She wouldn't just keep imagining light flashing across her peripheral vision, she got more excited as she thought of the real possibility of Barry having come here. She knew that if Barry was here all would end up right, with him by her side she felt unstoppable.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, you see i wrote this and the next as one huge chapter but decided I's break it in two so that it was more bite size.**

**Please tell me what you think, that way I can make this story the best I can and it also motivates me to write more.**

**Thanks for the reviews i got and I'll see you in the next chap :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

_National City_

Her heart leapt with joy as she saw the orange streak come around a corner and head straight towards them down the street.

Ms Grant watched the city as intently as her when Kara broke off her talking mid-sentence and noticed the streak shortly after she did. "It's the Blur, wait, your mystery love is the Blur?" Cat said somewhat shocked.

The two stepped back on the balcony as the streak of lightning approached them, Kara calling out to her cousin, "Kal, get out here, you're not going to believe this." Kara said elated, almost forgetting the situation they are currently in.

"what is it Supergirl?" Kal said rushing out to join them.

"Look, it's the Flash." Kara exclaimed pointing to the streak coming towards them from afar.

"But, that's impossible, isn't it?" Kal asked voice filled with awe which was well within reason given the man he had been told could cross through the multiverse was here, right now, at their time of most need.

Barry raced down the street and up onto the balcony of Catco on the floor he remembered Kara to work in, now in an almost frantic state worried for what almost equated to his entire meaning of being here, even for surviving Zoom. As he appeared on the balcony it took him a moment to comprehend what he was seeing as he ran straight in front of the very blonde alien he had been thinking of as well as her boss and what he deduced to be her cousin. He restrained himself from hugging her as hard as he could, not knowing the feelings that she was left behind with.

Kara simply stared at him with disbelief before being overcome with almost overwhelming joy and running into him harder than a normal person could survive squeezing him in a crushing hug and almost crying tears of joy as she felt him hug her back just as hard.

"Hey Kara, I missed you" Barry whispered in her ear.

Kara just hugged Barry harder, "I missed you a lot, I'm so glad you're here."  
The two stood like that for a couple minutes savouring the moment before breaking apart and giving each other a once over for injuries or anything of the sort. Barry found that despite the situation Kara still managed to look as amazing as always, Kara saw that Barry's suit was different from last time with a darker red and looking more armoured and combat suited but left questions for later. As Kara looked up into his eyes, she saw her own joy and happiness reflected in that but also, hidden beneath, she thought she could see a lot of pain in his eyes and worry gnawed at her before she pushed it aside for later.

Dragging Kal forwards she introduced the two, "Kal this is the Flash, fastest man in the world and Flash, this is Kal or Superman, the Man of Steel and my cousin." Kara said with a wide grin on her face.

Kal shook Barry's hand and applied some force, despite what he heard he knew with how much her cousin loved him that he could hurt her if he wasn't careful. To his surprise he found that Barry could easily take the strength of about 5 men without a single flinch and his hand didn't even feel strained, returning the shake with equal force.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my cousin has told me a lot about you."  
Some hope sparked in Barry for Kara liking him as he heard what her cousin said, "She told me a bit about you too, seems like you've been doing this hero thing longer than me, it's a pleasure to meet you."  
Despite Barry's words Kal got the feeling that even having been a hero for a shorter time he was definitely nowhere near new to this.

"It's great seeing you Supergirl and meeting you Kal, good to see you too Ms Grant," Barry said looking over to Kara's boss with a smile, "but something seems terribly wrong, people are acting like controlled drones everywhere and the two of you being together like this doesn't bode well either. Barry said gesturing to the cousins.

"It's my uncle, Non, I told you a bit about him" Barry nodded, remembering the conversation immaculately as he did almost everything, "He has deployed a device called Myriad that is controlling everyone's minds in National City and he's going to expand it over the whole Earth soon. We can't find a way to snap anyone out of this, so far, the only plan we have is made by Maxwell Lord, to blow up 2 million people and kill all Kryptonians in National City, us included, to stop them. He and Ms Grant are free due to ion blockers made by Lord at the last minute." She explained all she could as fast as she could without going super-fast.

Barry nodded, understanding the situation but he definitely wasn't going to allow some eccentric billionaire to kill Kara or her cousin, not on his watch. "So, we need another solution and fast."  
"Flash, we've tried but we can't find anything if we can't figure out something soon then we have to kill the few to save the many." Kara said, pleading him to help her, not wanting to condemn two million people.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve since last visit so let's see what I can do." Barry said following the others into the office, "May I?" He asked Ms Grant, indicating to the desk and receiving a nod of approval. Barry sped over to the desk and then, faster then even the supers could track, he dismantled the computer and keyboard, running out of the office and grabbing a few more parts from other devices before returning and reassembling them.

"What did you do?" Ms Grant inquired, somewhat annoyed that the speedster had pulled apart her stuff.

"Modified the keyboard and computer to keep up with my speed somewhat." Barry said before starting to type at rapid speeds where the sound of key clicks became an almost constant sound. On the screens behind Barry different pieces of text appeared or typed up at rapid pace, soon some kryptonian text appeared and then lots of detailed kryptonian writing regarding both science and coding started filling the screens before being translated into English."  
Kal seeing Barry's actions as a blur even with his speed realised that he was translating the kryptonian himself, "Where did you learn kryptonian?" He asked, curious as to whether he had found some on his Earth.

"I learnt it off the DEO databases and then used it to hack the Fort Rozz systems and am going through everything I can find there whilst looking at all the neurological research regarding mind control or unconscious actions. For around 15 minutes the two Kryptonians watched in fascination as Barry went through years of research in that time and created complex equations and scientific theorems that no one had formed before from them.

Barry then ran out and returned with a white board, using it to write equations, drawing an illustration of a human brain and annotating different parts. He rubbed a few things off and adjusted a few things before he stopped what he was doing.

"I think I've got something." Barry said drawing Ms Grant's attention, having already had Kara and Kal's, "I've tried a range of methods to undo the effects of Myriad using a range of technology, including tampering with what they have set up but none of it works."

Kal looked somewhat distraught forgetting he said he had something but the other two waited for him to continue, "I then went back to some of the more in depth, neurological sciences I looked into, you see the reason it doesn't effect the two of you is your different brain structure that I sourced from the DEO, you have more resistance to invasive technology. What Myriad is doing is controlling the brain through shutting down the emotions within people and without emotion people can't fight the control that is held over them. Therefore, if we can give people motivation to fight through reigniting emotions, we can release them from the chains of Myriad."  
The explanation had seemed to go over the head of the media mogul and farm boy superhero but Kara had mostly understood, "So what does that mean?" Kal asked confused.

"We need to inspire emotions throughout the city in people to fight the control and what better emotion than hope. Supergirl, it's up to you, these are your people, you need to give them the hope they need to survive. Also, someone needs to call Lord, so he doesn't go blow up the city and kill its heroes." Barry added the end as an afterthought.

Superman went to get Lord and bring him to Catco whilst the other three stayed and prepared for what Kara would have to do. "What do we need to do this?" Cat asked.

"Any live feed camera should do, plus a stool or something for Supergirl." Barry said.

Surprisingly, given the woman's usual nature, Cat walked off to get what he asked for, leaving Kara and Barry alone in the office. "Barry, I don't think I can do this. I know it has been a while, but they still hold the Red K events against me. I can't inspire people who don't look to me for inspiration anymore. Clark is the worlds hero not me, he can do it better, you could too, you're twice the hero I am." Kara said, letting out her nervousness, feeling comfortable enough in Barry's presence to do so.

Barry walked up to her and brought her into a tight hug, "Kara, I'm not the hero I was when I was here last, a lot happened and I don't deserve to be held in such a high regard by anyone, especially not you because you are the strongest hero I have or will ever meet. That's not due to your power but it is because of who you are as a person. You don't let anything, or anyone bend your will or stop you from saving everyone you can, you're stronger then all of us." Kara was shocked and wanted to ask what Barry was talking about when he said 'a lot happened' but realised this wasn't the time.

"Your cousin may be many people's heroes but from all I have seen, you are this city's hero, you are these people's heroes, and nothing has changed that. People were scared by the Red K event but in their hearts, they know who you are, you are their hero and you will save them. I know it because you have saved me more than you know." Barry spoke with a voice filled with trust and adoration for Kara.

Kara pulled back slightly to look into Barry's eyes and placed a hand on his partially cowl-covered cheek, "Barry whatever happened to you I want to know, I want to help you. For now, thank you, for being here, for saving me and my city." Barry interjected, "I didn't save the city, that's up to you, you can do this Kara" Kara butted back in, "We are saving the city, together. You gave me the method and the strength now I just got to drive it home.' Kara paused looking down for a bit before looking back into Barry's eyes, hers filled with the nervousness she was feeling, "Are you going to stay, here, Earth-38, for a while after this?" Kara asked in a quiet voice, praying to Rao he said yes.

Barry gulped before responding, "I-I was wondering if I could move to this Earth, a lot has happened, and I will tell you about it all later. I'll leave if you want though, I understand this is your world and it's not fair for me to come and stay here if you don't want me to."

Kara's eyes lit up with joy and she responded hastily as if, if she waited Barry would leave, "Stay, I want you to stay, please. We can sort this out after we deal with Non, but I want you to stay, whatever happened I want to help you like you've helped me, this world is better with you in it." Kara said the last bit before realising and blushed heavily.

Ms Grant entered the office causing Supergirl and the Flash to break apart quickly, going unnoticed by the distracted woman, neither having realised how close they were. Ms Grant got to work setting up the cameras and connecting it to her compute whilst getting the stool ready for the video.

As she was doing that, Clark flew through the window with Lord who he was carrying roughly by the back of his shirt. When they landed, he let go of Lord who stumbled forward, almost falling on his face. "What the hell is this, I'm trying to save the world and you get your cousin to come to me spouting some hippie hope solution and stop me from working?" Lord yelled at Kara angrily.

Before Kara could answer, Barry stepped between them and gave Lord a cold and hard stare that made the man shiver and back away slightly before standing up straight again. "And who are you? Another upstart hero trying to save the world with songs and prayers?"

"No, I'm the one that came up with the idea to fix this problem without committing mass murder of innocents. And to be clear," Barry said walking closer to Lord, "I know the things you did to Supergirl and if you ever try and harm her again I win throw you off the roof of this building, and that isn't a threat, it's a promise." He spoke in a cold voice, after all he had lost, he was not letting some idiot kill Kara.

After recovering from his fright Lord stepped back up to Barry and prepared to argue back, meanwhile Kara and Clark were shock at what he said but both new he said it to protect Kara and therefore didn't really mind, Ms Grant on the other hand didn't hear what Barry said but knew he had threatened Lord, bringing a smile to the media moguls face. Barry started before Lord could say something and explained his plan and research quickly using the information still written up on the whiteboard.

Lord laughed as Barry finished his explanation, "Well that's fun and all but if you didn't realise one of the people behind this can stop all transmissions the instant we try, we'd need an analog station to create the broadcast from which I don't see any of."

Cat then interjected, "There is an old Catco radio station that has analog systems still set up in National City, we can use that." Drawing the groups attention, Kara and Kal nodding in agreement.

"That would take to long, we don't have time to waste on frivolous pursuits." Lord retorted.

"Then it's convenient that I'm here" Barry said, explaining at the confused looks he was receiving, "I know how to hack and can do so faster than a group of professionals, I can secure a signal from here for long enough."  
"This person is literally part of the internet, you can't just out code her" Lord commented aggressively.

"I know that, I hacked Fort Rozz, I know everything the Kryptonians knew about her, which is a lot given they made her. When I say I can do something it is because I can." Barry was getting slightly agitated at this guy even after he learnt to control his emotions expertly in the league. Kara moved forward and placed a hand on Barry's shoulder, instantly calming him down. "We don't have time to argue, let's do this. I trust Flash and unless you can beat two kryptonians and a speedster then that's that." Kara addressed the last part towards Max.

Ms Grant finished setting up the broadcasting system whilst smirking at what they were saying to Lord and how the, 'smartest person alive' according to himself, was being outsmarted by The Blur.

Kara moved over to the stool and sat the way Cat told her to, facing the camera, next to the camera was Barry, sitting at Ms Grant's desk on the modded computer, ready to do his part. Seeing Kara look at him Barry met her gaze and gave her an encouraging smile and a nod giving Kara more confidence than he knew.

"Broadcast is commencing in, 5, 4," Barry did the rest of the countdown using his fingers and upon zero, began rapidly typing across the keyboard, preventing the attempts Brainiac made to shut them down the instant they started.

"People of National City, this is Supergirl, and… I hope you can hear me. We have been attacked, mothers and fathers, friends and neighbours, children, everyone, suddenly stopped by a force of evil as great as this world has ever known. Your attacker has sought to take your free will, your individuality, your spirit, everything that makes you who you are. When facing an attack like this, it's easy to feel hopeless. We retreat, we lose our strength, lose ourselves. I know. I lost everything when I was young. When I first landed on this planet, I was sad and alone, but I found out that there is so much love in this world, out there for the taking, without which I would have lost my will long ago to do what I do. And you, the people of National City, you helped me. You let me be who I'm meant to be. You gave me back to myself. You made me stronger than I ever thought possible. And I love you for that. Now, in each and every one of you, there is a light, a spirit, that cannot be snuffed out, that won't give up. I need your help again. I need you to _hope_. _Hope_ that you will remember that you can all be heroes. _Hope_ that when faced with an enemy determined to destroy your spirit, you will fight back and thrive. _Hope_ that those who once may have shunned you will in a moment of crisis come to your aid. _Hope_ that you will see again the faces of those you love, and perhaps even those you lost. We are National City together, and together we will thrive." Kara finished her speech with a smile forming across her face, she looked over to Barry who was smiling at her supportively and it filled her with happiness knowing he was there with her, by her side.

"Got it, I'm sending it to repeat on every device in National City, Barry said continuing to protect the systems from Brainiac whilst setting up the transmission, given he speed it only took him a matter of seconds to release the transmission. As he got it out the screens throughout the building began playing the message, shortly followed by those being used for Kryptonian research by the people Myriad was controlling when he broke into those systems as well.

The others looked around the office in awe apart from Lord and went out the window to see the message appear on all the digital billboards and from every speaker available.  
"Well, well, well, the mighty Flash's plan has failed, how very unsurprising." Lord stated in a condescending tone. "Don't worry if we move now, we'll still have time to deploy the bomb and actually save humanity."

Not wanting to start a fight Barry simply continued what he was doing, keeping Brainiac out whilst ignoring Max who kept going on with his gloating idiocy. Kara, Clark and Cat re-entered the office and looked at Barry.

"It's not working Flash; did something go wrong?" Kara asked with a voice laced with concern.

Instead of answering her question, Barry stood up, stopping his work and flourished his hand towards the rest of the people on the floor outside the office. Looking where he had indicated the others gasped, including an embarrassed Lord as they saw people standing up somewhat confused, not quite understanding what had happened but still retaining their memories.

Kara almost squealed with joy seeing that their plan had worked and so did Clark the two embracing in a tight hug. "Good job Supergirl, I knew you had it in you, I didn't back you for nothing." Ms Grant said with a smile that spoke her true words of praise. Kara smiled back at Ms Grant knowing this was very high praise for her then she turned and super sped over into a bone crushing embrace with Barry who returned it in kind.

"Thank you, Barry, I couldn't do it without you." Kara whispered into his chest.

Barry smiled and hugged her tighter whispering back, "We did it Kara, and you were amazing. It seems with time they now can see you as the hero you are, not a perfect protector, but one of them, someone real."

Kara smiled more brightly at that, but it was hidden in their embrace and she pushed it down as she stepped back from Barry blushing heavily. "I'm going to go take care of any criminals who took advantage of the situation going on here back in Metropolis, I'll be back tomorrow, and we can figure out how to stop Non for good. It was good to meet you Flash." Clark said, addressing the scarlet speedster at the last part before flying out the open balcony.

The room now only held Ms Grant and the two other heroes; Max having scampered off for whatever reason after everyone had awoken from Myriad. "Thank you for the help Ms Grant but I need to get some rest, I'll see you later." Kara said.

"Of course, you will, I'm getting an exclusive from you about your speech just now." Cat said definitively. Kara simply laughed a bit before starting to head out the room.

Turning back around when she didn't hear Barry following her, she looked at him questioningly, "C'mon, you need a place to stay don't you?" Barry chuckled and followed her out the office and they were soon approached by Winn.

Winn immediately hugged Kara, "Thanks for the save Supergirl, sorry for jumping out the window." He said apologetically.  
"Don't worry about it, you weren't in control and no one was hurt anyway." Kara said with a smile. Winn then turned to see who was next to her and as he noticed Barry his eyes blew wide open and his jaw dropped before, he composed himself and grabbed Barry in a tight hug.

As Barry had seen Winn, it hurt being reminded of Cisco given the two were quite alike but was able to push it aside and returned the hug he had been caught in.

"Oh my god, Barry! You're here, this is so awesome. How long are you staying? What did you come for? W-" Winn was cut off as Kara placed a hand over his mouth, glaring at him but smiling at the same time.

"Winn, seriously, you can't just yell out his name, you're lucky no one noticed." Kara said, her anger only half-hearted as she laughed internally as his eyes widened once again in realisation.

Barry chuckled, "It's good to see you too Winn. To answer both your questions, I'm planning to move here for good, probably." He added the last bit looking at Kara, unsure if she would accept him. Kara noticed and squeezed his arm, giving him a warm smile knowing he needed her support but not yet knowing why.

"Wow, your moving here, that's awesome. We totally have a super team now, you two make the best team." Winn said, letting out a bit of his fangirling.

The two heroes blushed at the praise and how he said they were awesome _together._ The two chuckled slightly at Winn before Kara told him that she had to get home and get some rest, having had a long day.

"Do you remember where my place is?" Kara asked Barry once they left the building, having taken the elevator down to the lobby.

"Yeah, race you there, Girl of Steel." Barry said provocatively, challenging her to a race. Kara smiled in response, "Well when you turn up late, you're going and getting pizzas." Kara announced. Barry chuckled before counting down, "Three, two, one." By the time he let out the last number he had already shot off and wind buffeted Kara's face from it before she took off flying as fast as she could to her apartment, the ear-splitting smile that she hadn't had since Barry was last here, on her face the entire time.

Barry wanted to try something out that he had done some thinking, calculations and research on whilst he was looking for a way to stop Myriad without being noticed. He knew he probably shouldn't have taken the time to but what was days of intensive research when it took him 2 minutes.

Barry ran off at around a quarter of his previous, and probably not current, top speed at around Mach 20 but as he did so he channelled the speedforce within him and instead of letting out sonic booms the sound and kinetic energy produced in the boom were instead absorbed by his energy trail making it glow brighter but not having any impact on his surroundings. Barry smiled at his theory having been correct and slightly increased his speed, shooting off towards Kara's apartment which only took a few seconds to reach. On his way there he took time to scour the city and pick up all the loose change he could find on the streets given he had no money from this world, he then visited five of the pizza places around Kara's apartment and took all the prepared pizzas whilst leaving the money for them and a generous tip.

Kara flew into her apartment only a bit over a minute after leaving and smiled, not seeing Barry and thinking she had won the race. As she stood there just inside the window, she had opened to get in she thought of all that had happened, despite the stress and difficulties that she had faced this had to be one of her best days ever, Barry was back, her Barry. 'Wait, what, her Barry?' she thought to herself, she then smiled, yes, he was her Barry, her close friend, super partner and she hoped one day, boyfriend.

Kara snapped out of her train of thought and brought her attention back to her apartment, a puzzled look crossing her face when she smelt pizza. She then jumped in fright when she saw a figure walked out from her room and got ready to fight the intruder.

"I hope you don't mind. I got changed out of my suit in your bedroom after bringing the pizzas back and I couldn't find the light switch.' Barry said smiling at Kara's shocked expression.  
Kara recovered then mumbled and stuttered for a minute before being able to form a proper sentence, "What? How? You're telling me you got pizza's and changed before I got here?" Kara asked in awe and confusion.

"Well I had to find change across the city to pay for the pizzas, but yeah." Barry said smiling, "I'm a lot faster than I was last time." Barry winced slightly recalling how and why he got that fast.

Kara noticed but decided to leave it until later given he just got here, "where's the pizzas?" Kara asked, her stomach growling in agreement much to her embarrassment. "Turn the lights on and you'll see" Barry said with a smile.

Once Kara turned the lights on, she saw about 25 boxes of pizza sitting on the table in front of her TV from a couple of the local places and almost drooled at the sight. "Don't eat them without me." Kara said to Barry seriously before running off into her room and emerging seconds later wearing the Supergirl pyjama pants that had her house symbol on it and tank top that she wore to bed each night.

Barry blushed from the couch when he noticed what Kara was wearing, she looked amazing anywhere, anytime, but she looked so natural and real right now Barry just fell more in love with her by the second.

Kara came over blushing a bit and sitting next to him on the couch, close but not inappropriately so, "Lets eat" Kara said with hunger driven joy and anticipation. The two began eating whilst talking in between mouthfuls about what Kara had been doing whilst Barry was gone, Barry listening with rapt attention to every single detail.

After they finished the Pizzas Kara super sped over to the kitchen and grabbed some chips and lollies before returning with them and the two continued to chat merrily as they chomped on the snacks. Kara was so happy right now and really enjoying spending time with Barry, she was worried to ruin it but she needed to know what it was that had happened to the man she loved, and whose limbs she had to dismember.

"Um, Barry?" Kara asked hesitantly, "Yeah?" Barry answered, smiling softly recognising her nervousness and helping her calm down a bit.

"Barry, what happened? I can see pain in your eyes, and I want to help you. I promise I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to" Kara said looking into his eyes as she saw him flinch.

Barry sighed looking down slightly before meeting Kara's gaze once again, "I trust you Kara, more then anyone." Barry said provoking a blush from Kara and making her heart inflate in joy hearing that, "You mean a lot to me and I'll tell you everything but it's not good. A lot happened and I screwed up too many times. I understand if you want me to leave when you know what happened, but I want to say first that you are the best hero and person I've ever met, and I have loved every minute I've been with you." Barry said solemnly, Kara blushed deeply as he praised her and her heart soaring although a dread grew in her at the other things he said.

Kara knew she would never abandon Barry or ask him to leave but it scared her thinking of what had happened to the man she loved to make him hurt so bad, anger grew in her thinking of whoever did this to him.

The next hour or so was spent with Barry telling Kara every detail of what had happened, the people he failed, the people he lost, the damage he did and how he won but the cost was too high for him. Kara went through a wild range of emotions from rage, the likes of which she had never felt for anyone before, towards Zoom and deep sadness as Barry spoke of those he lost, and a few tears rolled down his cheeks.  
When he finished they both took a few moments, reviewing all that Barry had just said, Barry waiting nervously for Kara's reaction. Kara pulled herself together quickly and scooted over closer to Barry and wrapped him in a tight and warm embrace.

"Barry, everything that happened was so terrible, I'm so sorry about you having to lose those friends, you of all people never deserved that." Kara said a few tears spilling from her eyes at the thought of Barry's pain, Barry himself not quite crying but tightly returning Kara's embrace, "You aren't a monster though, you are the greatest hero of all, you did all you could and never gave up, you lost all you had and kept going and you saved your world, hell you saved all the Earths. I know it hurts, I've lost my people, family, before but you are stronger than anyone, you'll move on but never forget who they were, we'll do this, together. I'm not leaving you Barry, ever, ok?" Kara aske leaning back and placing her hand on Barry's cheek.

More tears were spilling down Barry's face as he thought of how much he loved the woman in front of him and how she cared enough to help him fix himself. Barry nodded to her, "Together" he whispered before Kara smiled and returned to hugging him.

"B-Barry?" Kara asked nervously. "Yes Kara?" He answered, "There's something I need to tell you." She said leaning back and looking him in the face once again.

"Yeah, what is it?" Barry inquired, having recovered from the emotional turmoil he had just gone through as he recounted the past few months.

"I-I. When you last came something happened and I couldn't figure out what to do about it, I waited, counting each day until you came back." Kara said in a quiet voice. Barry looked at her questioningly.

"I think, no, I know. Barry since I met you, I felt things I never had before, I'm falling in love with you and I can't go on not having you know, so now you do. No matter what you say I'll always be there for you but I really like you, a lot and-" Barry cut her off as she started to rant, cupping her cheeks and closing the distance between them, meeting in a tender kiss that told her what he felt better than his words could. Kara was shocked at first but soon returned the kiss, loving the tingling feeling and love she felt at the moment. She hadn't kissed that any people before but the moment she kissed Barry she knew, he was the one, she had never felt anything near what she did now, she couldn't even begin to explain it.

Barry had similar feelings as he kissed Kara, not knowing what to say and deciding this was the best course of action. Here he was, kissing the girl of his dreams that he was falling in love with and would do anything for, her telling him she wanted to be with him, if it was a dream, he hoped he never woke up. The two pulled apart gasping for breath minutes having seemed like only seconds.

"Kara, what about James, I though you two, you know?" Barry said nervously, "After I met you realised that I felt so much more for you than I ever had before, I didn't want to be with him, I decided I'd wait however long it took and if you took too long I'd find a way to you." Kara said seriously although still had a face splitting smile on that lit up the universe in Barry's perspective.

"I felt the same Kara, from the moment I met you, you were the most amazing person and then I realised you were also the strongest, bravest and most loving person I had ever and will ever meet. You never needed to be Supergirl to me Kara Danvers, Kara Zor-el, whoever you were, you were the person I was falling in love with." Barry said, eyes full of love and happiness.

The two leaned in and shared another loving kiss, expressing the depth of their emotions to each other. After breaking apart Kara snuggled into Barry's side and pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and threw it over them. Barry wrapped an arm around her and the two closed their eyes, tired from the busy day but both overjoyed at what had just transpired.

As they were going to sleep Barry asked Kara quietly, "Will you be my girlfriend Kara?"  
"Of course I will." Kara whispered with a bright smile, snuggling further into his side, the two drifting off to sleep on the couch.

**Hey again, Hope you liked these chapters,**

**I really enjoyed writing the Karry stuff and I'd like to hear what you all think about it. Next chap we'll be dealing with Non, similar to the TV show but not quite the same. BTW I didn't have Myriad control Clark b/c the explanation in the show was kinda bs, kryptonians can't be mind read because their brain structure is different and nurture ain't gonna change that.**

**Thanks again for those who reviewed and I'd love to hear from more of you if you could. I love hearing from y'all.**

**Any way, sorry for the mini rant you just had to experience. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next chap :)**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

As light poured through the partially open blinds the two superheroes laying together on the couch were to be eternally grateful for their unnatural strength and regeneration abilities, not having to worry about the back pain that sleeping in such a way would cause others. Barry awoke first and blearily opened his eyes, blinking the sleep from them and taking a few moments to come to terms with where he was now.

As he took in the space he saw that he was in Kara's apartment and had decided he must be dreaming but then the recent events came to him and he looked down, noticing the woman of his dreams snuggled to his side, her head resting on his chest and a small, adorable smile on her face. Barry the tilted himself back to get a better look at her only to have her grip him tighter and stay cuddled up to him.

A proper smile worked its way across Barry's face as he came to terms with all that had happened in the past few hours and the life that was already growing for him on this Earth. Kara had said she'd be his girlfriend! With that he knew whatever else that faced him on this Earth, it wouldn't be able to stop him. As Barry spent the next half-hour or so absorbing the newfound happiness he had and the comfort of his current situation he finally decided he should get up. Slipping from Kara's strong grasp using a small dose of speed to escape fast enough to get out of her grip whilst not waking her, Barry ventured across the open space and into the kitchen. After exploring the contents of the apartments food, he found that it was seriously lacking in enough breakfast for the Kara alone and with the two of them they were only going to need more.

As such Barry raced through the streets faster than he had previously, practising his ability to absorb the sonic booms that would come in handy for fights that were bound to end up taking place in the city if he continued to be the Flash here. He raced around the city and in under 10 minutes had been able to collect enough money that had been kicked under things and left on the ground to buy groceries, deciding he was definitely going to need to get a job. He made short work of shopping by as he raced through the supermarket at normal speeds and soon returned to the apartment, laden with bags full of food ranging from frozen potstickers, pizzas and pies to bacon, eggs and essential baking supplies.

Getting to work he had soon whipped up a stack of both waffles and pancakes along with a plate full of bacon and some perfectly scrambled eggs that definitely hadn't taken him multiple tries before nor burning.

At the smell of the food Kara woke up as well, in truth she had been up that morning already, snuggled up to Barry and listening to his heartbeat which both calmed her and filled her with a warm, fuzzy feeling, and knowing he had woken up. Rather than alerting him to the fact that she was awake, Kara had decided to make the most of what she wasn't sure was a dream or not, sure they faced a lot of problems the last day but no one was harmed and Barry had returned, that couldn't be true, could it?  
She had soon drifted back into what was the most peaceful sleep of her life, on Earth or Krypton, and was scared and fearful when she awoke on the couch alone, almost letting tears slip from her eyes as she thought that it was all a dream, as had happened previously in the recent months. Smells of delicious breakfast that wasn't common within her apartment, as she usually raced out to work each morning and only had whatever was easy, wafted over to her and broke her from her train of thoughts. Slowly turning around, she saw Barry humming to himself and cooking in the kitchen with stacks of delectable food piled up on the island behind him.

In any other situation, being the perpetually hungry superhero, she is, she would have raced to the food and dug in as fast as Kryptonian-ly possible, instead she couldn't help but stare. The dreams that she had, had were really coming true, she had to pinch herself just to check that what she was seeing was real. Then she thought back to everything last night and almost jumped as she remembered the last events of last night. Barry had asked her to be his girlfriend and she had said yes! Remembering this she had to refrain from jumping with joy. There, in her kitchen, cooking her breakfast, was her boyfriend, Barry Allen, literally the man of her dreams, wearing black skinny jeans and a dark grey dress shirt with windswept brown hair.

She couldn't believe that the handsome, charming, amazing man in front of her was her boyfriend, from where she was as she really looked at him for the first time since he reappeared on her world, she noticed how much more muscular he was. On his last visit, only a few months ago, he had, had muscles although was still quite skinny looking, now he looked almost as muscled as her cousin as she could somewhat see his strong build through his shirt. Kara blushed as she realised, she had now been staring at him for a fair while and then blushed deeper as she once again remembered that he was her boyfriend and undeniably hot. She quickly turned away and allowed herself to calm down before making a poor show of pretending to just be waking up with an over exaggerated yawn and stretching.

Barry didn't pay any heed to this if he noticed, instead he turned to her with a smile that lit up her world, "I thought you might be hungry after the day we had yesterday, so I grabbed some food."  
Kara smiled back and run abnormally fast over to him, embracing him in a soft embrace as she pecked him on the lips and then lent back in his arms to look into his face, "You're the best. I still can't believe you're here. And my boyfriend." She added the last part with a giggle but was internally nervous hoping that she didn't just imagine that.

Barry blushed heaving in response to her actions but reciprocated in kind, "I know, I can't believe you are my girlfriend, I feel happier than I have in a long time and that's thanks to you." Barry emphasised his statement with a bright smile and giving Kara another peck on the lips that developed into a more passionate kiss as they both express the feelings; they hadn't said out loud.

Once they broke apart, Kara slipped around the other side of the island and sat on one of the breakfasts stools, pulling over one of the plates Barry put out and stacking it with food before drowning it in maple syrup. Barry sped through the kitchen cleaning everything up in seconds and joining her moments after she sat down. As they ate in comfortable silence the two kept exchanging glances at each other and looking into one another's eyes for a few moments when their gazes met before turning away with blushes. As Kara was finishing up her breakfast, somehow ahead of Barry, she looked over to the clock and jumped a little in surprise, drawing Barry's attention.

In a frantic rush she turned to Barry, "I need to be at Catco in 15 minutes, I'm so screwed, I'm so sorry I have to go, will you come with me?" Kara said unintentionally using puppy dog eyes when she asked for him to go with her, not that they were needed.

"Of course I'll go with you, I have to get my life sorted out on this world anyway and there's no better place to do that then with the centre of it by my side" Barry said whilst looking at her, both of them blushing deeply when he said this, "And don't worry about the time, you get ready, I'll run out and get the coffee and then I can race you to Catco in a few seconds."  
Kara's heart filled with warmth at what Barry said and she calmed down as he gave her his plan, smiling she kissed him on the lips before speeding off to get ready for work, only then realising she was in her pyjamas the whole time and blushing again. She would usually be so embarrassed that she was blushing this often, but this was Barry, so it didn't matter, very little else seemed to when he was around.

As she emerged from her room minutes later in a pale blue summer dress and cream high heels with her hair done up in her usual ponytail and her glasses on, she saw Barry leaning on the island staring at her with coffees in hand and another bag on the counter. "What? Is there something on my face?" Kara said concerned, taking her glasses off."  
Barry waled up and took the glasses from her hand and placed them back on her face gently, "No, I was just amazed at how beautiful my girlfriend is, I can't imagine how people don't know you're Supergirl." Kara blushed at the compliment, "You aren't too shabby yourself Scarlet Speedster."  
They both burst out in a fit of laughter before Barry gave her a peck on the lips before handing her the coffees on a tray and the bag, "Hold on."  
This was all the warning Kara had before she was swept up in his arms and reappeared seconds later beside Catco, as she left she let out a small squeal but didn't even hear it as they left it behind in their speed. As Barry put her down she let out a little sigh, wishing she could stay in his arms, she then stared at him in awe as she realised how fast he must really be, she can see at super speeds but that was incredible, even she just saw blurs.

Barry chuckled at her expression before offering his hand which she took in her own as they walked into Catco's lobby, as they made their way up to Cat's office the two felt so right in that moment, holding hands and going to work like any normal couple that had begun falling in love. As they were in the elevator Kara whispered to Barry despite the elevator being empty, "By the way, in case you didn't remember, Cat doesn't take to kindly to office romance even if you don't work here so don't let her see." Barry chuckled at this, remembering Cat Grant's unique nature quite well.

He gave Kara one last peck on the cheek, which she blushed at, before the elevators opened revealing the already bustling office, many people working to get stories out about what had transpired the previous day. The two made their way across the room through the flurry of frantic workers before getting to the Ms Grant's office where the two stopped outside at Kara's desk. Kara quickly set her things down including the bag and coffees before looking over to Barry, "What's in the bag?"  
"What? With your x-ray vision and super senses, you didn't figure it out" Barry chuckled a little at Kara's blushing faced response she mumbled "no" quietly, "Have a look then." Barry said with a smirk.

Kara opened the bag and then her eyes widened, and she hastily withdrew the contents and took a big bite from it. Then Kara looked up at Barry with a mouthful of the freshly glazed donut that he had gotten a few of from her favourite donut shop that they went to on his last visit. Kara then let out a muffled response, "Thank you Barry" or at least that's what Barry thought she meant to say through her mouthful, Kara had then quickly blushed and swallowed her mouthful before re-voicing her appreciation, sneaking a kiss on his cheek before anyone could notice.

As the two waited there, Kara having sat down on her chair and Barry leaning next to it on her desk, they sipped on the coffees Barry had gotten them whilst Kara ate the donuts and convinced Barry to have half a one even though he had told her he had gotten them for her. As they continued chatting about nothing in particular, sharing little details of their lives and both feeling happier than ever, they were soon approached by Winn after he emerged from the elevator.

When he came over, he once again tried to apologise for jumping out the window the other day, but Kara quickly shut him up, telling him he wasn't in control and that it wasn't his fault. Winn rolled over on his chair after he set his thing down at his nearby desk and the three began chatting and informing Winn of the details of what had happened yesterday, before the three then just talked amongst themselves like long-lost, reunited friends which in some ways they were.

As Barry had looked up around the room momentarily, he noticed Jimmy standing by the side of the room and then continued looking as he noticed him staring at Kara strangely, then he saw him look at Barry in surprise before glaring hatefully at him. Barry was unsure what was going on and was relieved when they avoided confrontation as Winn and Kara noticed what was happening. Winn stood up, "I'll make sure he doesn't bother you for now, it's so great to see you again Barry and we need to catch up more soon." He said and Barry smiled at him and nodded before he walked away towards James.

Barry and Kara watched Winn approach him and start talking to him before their attention was drawn away by the binging of the private elevator, announcing Cat's arrival. Kara panicked slightly realising that she hadn't told Barry that Ms Grant knew who he was and told him to sit in her seat as she got up with Ms Grant's coffee, approaching her and leaving any potential issues that may rise, until they do.

As Ms Grant emerged from the office it was business as usual, she walked past Kara taking the coffee with a curt, "Morning Kiera" whilst ignoring everyone else and entering her office with Kara following her in. After sitting down behind her desk with Kara in front of her she finally spoke up, "Don't think I didn't notice the superhero eye candy you brought into the office Kiera. He looks even more handsome than last time, with those big muscles and all. Is he single?" Ms Grant asked, looking genuinely inquisitive.

Kara refrained from gagging at the though and also felt slightly defensive at what she was insinuating about her boyfriend, "Errr, I think he is with someone." Kara half-said, half-mumbled with a slight blush. Ms Grant raised an eyebrow in curiosity as she tried to decipher her assistant's behaviour.

"Very well, that's a shame, now I want an interview with him as soon as possible. Will he be staying around longer this time?"  
"He doesn't quite know yet, but he may be staying around for a long while.' Kara answered trying to make sure not to give away her identity.

"Interesting, competition for Supergirl, this will make things interesting." Ms Grant said with a scheming face on as if already planning the media rivalry in her head.

"Um, Barry told me that he and Supergirl were partners, working together, and he isn't sure whether he will be the Flash anymore." As Kara said this, she felt pain inside, thinking of how much he had suffered, but his this as to not give it away to Ms Grant.

"Hmm, no, I disagree, I've never met a man more obviously a superhero than maybe a few overzealous Mormons, I'd bet my career that he will eb the Flash. I must make sure to claim him for National City before Perry White gets his hands on him.

Kara smiled at the way her boss saw Barry and, on the inside, she knew that he wouldn't stop being the Flash, it was part of who he is, but whatever he decides she will support him. She was falling in love with him, Barry, and whether that is the Flash as well, or not, didn't concern her, so long as he is happy.

"Kiera, cancel my appointments, I'm going to see what I can find out about who 'The Blur' really is, and get me one of those green herbal drinks, all this end of world stuff has me feeling healthy." Kara smiled internally at this, knowing however deep she dug she wouldn't find anything on The Blur or Barry, so she made her way from her office over to her desk, finding her chair empty and looking around the office finding her boyfriend mucking around with Winn at his computer.

Leaving him to what he was doing she sat down and got to work cancelling or rescheduling the appointments that Ms Grant had for the day and finding where to get the herbal drink for her, knowing that once these were done she would have the rest of the day off as Ms Grant focused on her research.

Barry, over at Winn's desk after having been beckoned there by him, was playing 'Castle Crashers' with Winn, who told him that usually he had nothing to do given his job was mainly to fix the occasional bug or error and fix Ms Grant's computer if it stopped working. The two had been talking about programming and hacking as that was what Barry had found out was his Winn's expertise on his last trip and now he was also extremely skilled at it after his work back on his Earth, or his old Earth, he wasn't quite sure what to call it.

After almost an hour the two were just finishing one of the levels that they were stuck on when Kara came over was confused, not understanding the technology and software they were talking about whilst they played, she knew Barry had learnt a lot but was surprised at how easily he could keep up with Winn now. Even with her advanced education from Krypton and superior brain processing abilities she couldn't usually understand a lot of what Winn talked about.

Barry noticed her there and smiled, turning their conversation away from what they were talking about when he realised that Kara couldn't understand. "Hey Kara, we should probably see if we can figure out what Non is doing now, he doesn't sound like the person to go down with one hit, if you're busy I can try and chase some things down using the set-up upstairs."

"No, it's fine, I have the rest of the day off and was thinking the same thing, but I thought we could grab something to eat on the way to the DEO." Kara responded with her usual bright smile, or at least how it usually was around Barry, which was brighter than ever.

"Sounds good to me." Barry replied, already hungry despite their abnormally large breakfast. The two then headed into the elevator, bidding farewell to Winn. As the elevator descended the two stood shoulder to shoulder, hands brushing each other, both smiling without realising it. The elevator then stopped on a lower floor and the doors opened up revealing James Olsen.

"Oh, hey Kara, I was just coming up to see you. Mind coming into my Office to talk?" He asked, but it sounded closer to demanding.

Kara sighed, realising she was going to have to deal with this sooner or later, so she walked out of the elevator, dragging Barry by the hand behind her as they followed James to his office. Once they had entered his office, he closed the door behind him before turning to the two, Kara had left her hand in Barry's, feeling safer and more comfortable this way.

James walked forward until he was in front of the two, a little too close to be considered normal, he was only slightly taller than Barry but due to Barry's new physique that was stronger than James' he didn't seem all to intimidating. Kara on the other hand was slightly shorter than Barry and didn't have a very large frame and despite her powers, given James' position it looked intimidating, and would have felt so to Kara if she didn't have Barry next to her, instead it was just annoying and angering.

"So, Kara, I see 'The Blur' is back in town, what his world threw him out?" James said aggressively.

Before Kara answered Barry did, "Actually I came here on my own, I wanted to see you guys again and hang out with Kara. There aren't many people that we can relate to, and Kara and I just understand each other." He smiled as he said this, hoping that James wasn't going to keep acting aggressive like he had been, he wouldn't let him treat Kara like that and he didn't want to hurt Kara's friend.

James snorted when he looks at Barry, "Shut up wimp, you're no hero and I made Kara into Supergirl, I'm the only one that understands her." He then pushed Barry away from Kara, "And I don't like how close you are to my girlfriend. Fuck off or I'm going to do something that you won't like."  
Barry had stumbled back, not expecting the attack, and hit the side of the bench, causing him to stumble further away to avoid falling on the floor. Kara was too chocked at James' words and what he did to Barry that she was frozen still, James then grabbed her at the waist and kissed her forcefully, snapping her out of her daze. She pushed him back violently, making sure not to use her full strength, making him fly back and hit the glass wall without breaking it, before falling to the floor.

Kara then wiped her mouth on her arm before facing James' murderously, before she could speak though, Barry acted. He ran forward faster than James could register and picked him up by the collar of his shirt, hoisting the heavy man up against the wall as if he weighed no more than a feather. Barry then stared straight into his eyes as his own turned into blazing balls of pure lightning.

As James became aware of his situation, he literally pissed himself as he faced the scariest thing he had ever seen, an angry Barry. "I don't care who you think you are or what you think you've done, if you dare lay a finger on Kara again I will throw you off the peak of Everest and watch as you break into thousands of little pieces as you land below. She made it clear she doesn't want you near her so stay away, or else." Barry said in a deep vibrating voice before he grabbed Kara and ran out of the building to a nearby diner that Kara had raved about to him on his last visit, leaving before James could process what happened.

Kara looks over at Barry in shock as they came to a stop, taking time to figure out all that had just happened in the last few minutes. Barry saw the shock in her eyes and thought that she had seen him for the monster he felt like, looking down and turning away slightly his eyes filling with unshed tears he let out a broken sounding "sorry", preparing to run away out of her life. Before he could, Kara grabbed his wrist and spun him back in front of her before pulling him to her and into a passionate kiss.

As she moved back, both of them catching their breath, she spoke, "What's wrong Barry?" She cupped his cheek as she spoke.  
"Y-you saw me, d-do that to him. I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did it, I just can't stand seeing anyone try to hurt you. N-now I'm scared y-you want me t-to leave." Barry stuttered slightly, shaken by what had happened.

"Barry. It doesn't matter, I love it that you want to protect me and if you hadn't done what you did, I would have done similar to him for hurting you. I'm not going to leave, and you aren't either. You're stuck with me so get used to it." Kara finished with a smirk as she wrapped her arms around his neck whilst leaning into his chest.

Barry chuckled slightly, realising how he had acted without considering how amazing Kara was. Wrapping his arms around her waist and returning the loving embrace he whispered in her ear with his face buried in the crook of her neck, "I know, I'm sorry for being so stupid. I couldn't be stuck with anyone better, thank you for being there Kara, always."

The two leaned back to look at one another and shared another sweet kiss before Kara broke off looking at him happily, "No need to apologise, that's what girlfriends are for right? Now I'm hungry and can already smell the delicious burgers so let's go." She then dragged him behind her, with his hand in hers, into the diner for lunch.

After the meal the two had returned to Kara's apartment and suited up before heading out into the desert to the DEO headquarters in order to chase down Non and Brainiac. Arriving at the base of operations for the secret organisation the two ran into the central command area where all agents turned and held guns up pointed straight towards Barry.

Seeing this Kara jumped in front of him, worried for his safety but more angry at their actions towards Barry. With a glare, enforced by her eyes that began to glow in a threatening manner, she spoke in a cold tone, "Put your guns down, he's a friend."

Shocked by the usually calm Girl of Steel's reaction all the agents immediately lowered their weapons, not wanting to further anger the powerful alien hero. Lucy approached Kara, having only slipped her gun from the holster, knowing Barry from his last trip and merely acting in shock by the sudden arrival.

"Supergirl, Flash, it's good to see you here, after everything that happened yesterday, I was afraid you might have been missing. How come Flash is here, I thought you had to send him back to his universe or something when he left?" Lucy directed the question towards Kara who answered, "He came back, he's going to be moving here and came just in time to help us stop Myriad, we couldn't have done it without him." Unaware of her own actions, she looked adoringly at Barry and moved closer to him, where their arms were brushed up against one another.

Lucy turned to Barry, nodding her head in appreciation, "It looks like we are in your debt again Flash, it'll be good having you around." She said with a smirk as her eyes skimmed over his suit clad frame. Kara frowned and glared slightly as she noticed this but was brought out of it as Barry subtly slipped his hand in hers and gave her hand a light squeeze.

"Well, its all a part of the job. Now we need to stop Non for good. Have we got any leads as to where he is located?" Barry asked Lucy, ignoring her actions.

"We don't have any idea as of yet-", She was interrupted when Maxwell Lord entered the room with a grim expression and was received similarly to Barry. Lucy raised a hand and the agents lowered their guns, "What brings you here Lord?" Lucy inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't you have anywhere better to be? Like at Lord Tech, looking after your traumatised employees." Kara piped in.

"That's what psychiatrists on retainers are for, I on the other hand am more worried about what's still happening."  
"What do you mean, Myriad's shut down, everyone's better now."  
"That's not quite the case. I returned to my lab and checked on my systems that they had been piggybacking on and found out that they didn't switch Myriad off, instead they amplified it. Emergency rooms all over the city have been filled with people complaining about headaches. They have increased the wave ten-fold and it is still increasing exponentially. Given they couldn't control us, they are going to kill us. The wave will be amplified until all of humanity's heads explode."

"How long do we have?" Lucy questioned.

"At the current rates, we have little over 3 hours. Only about 2 and a half before all humans are effected by large pains like that of a strong migraine."

"Flash, the mind-wave didn't affect you, will this?" Supergirl's asked, turning to Barry with eyes filled with concern.

"Don't worry about your little friend, the wave only affects humans, whatever species he is, he'll be fine." Lord responded, Kara simply ignored him, looking towards Barry.

"The original waves did work on me somewhat; it just couldn't control my mind because it runs too fast and myriad was far too weak for me. This on the other hand will affect me as it does anyone else." At hearing this Kara became far more worried than she already was, she couldn't lose Barry, she couldn't let him be hurt.

Seeing Kara's concern and anxiety Barry soothed her, "We've got this, you don't need to worry about me. Between you, Superman and I, Non won't know what hit him." Barry said with a smirk. If he were being honest this had him scared too, for humanity on this planet and for more significantly for what Kara would be left behind with, after everything he wasn't all too concerned about himself.

Kara gave a weak smile back, a great portion of her fear pushed aside by Barry's calm and collected, even humorous, attitude. Turning back to the others she spoke up, "So how can we stop this?"

"The wave is being powered by one of these." Lord brought up a picture of a device on the screen that Kara recognised, "It's an omegahedron, an extremely powerful energy core that is supply enough power for them to spread the wave across the entire globe."

"We used to use these back on Krypton, Non must have gotten it from Fort Rozz." Kara chimed in.

Barry walked forward to the console and began typing things on the keyboards available. Using them he read up on all the available information on the energy core and then using that information, he was able to apply a search using a range of satellites he had hacked into, to pinpoint the location of the drive. Finding that it was located somewhere in Nevada, Barry brought up a map of where it was only to find nothing, using skills he had picked up from Felicity and taught himself Barry was then able to hack into the stealth technology that was there through the US military that had put it up.

To the others this process was a blur of his hands across the keyboards and of different files and coding appearing and disappearing on the screen at illegible speeds, Kara didn't have it much better, only being able to make out the occasional word.

As the satellite image displayed on the screen was suddenly filled with an uncloaked alien prison there was many gasps of shock. General Lane who had been standing near them and listening to the conversation whilst observing them then spoke up, "How did you do that, we cloaked the prison using the most secure military servers, hacking the US military is a serious crime." As he spoke the men, he had with him moved forwards, the general approaching with what seemed to be an intent to apprehend Barry.

Kara overcame her shock at seeing the crashed prison, that had been giving them so much trouble recently, appear on the screen, "Back off" She said aggressively to the men approaching Barry and general Lane, "So what? You found Fort Rozz in the middle of Nevada and just hid it there?" Kara questioned the general.

"You try moving a million tonne space ship, we did what we could and cloaked it using its own stealth technology." Lane rebutted.

"That's unimportant, what is important is that this is where Non and Brainiac's base of operation is and where the omegahedron will be. You and your speedy friend need to get out there and stop this as soon as possible." Lord said.

"If we're going to do this then we might die, I know the risks but this time I want to say the goodbyes that I couldn't when I left Krypton." Kara spoke with a grim expression.

Hearing this, Barry's expression hardened as he promised to himself that he would do whatever it takes to make sure Kara doesn't die.

After all that had transpired at the DEO headquarters, Kara and Barry made their way back to Catco, stopping on the roof and getting changed into normal clothes. Barry turning around as Kara forgot that he could see at superspeeds, with a deep blush. As they finished changing and turned around Kara spoke up, "Barry, I know you didn't come here for this and I'm sorry you got dragged into my messes, thank you for being by my side through it all. I have to do all it takes to save the Earth, it's what I am a hero to do, to protect those who can't protect themselves. I wish it could be another way, but if I die, I want you to move on, you can have everything I own, I just want you to be able to move on and have the happy life you deserve." She spoke in a timid voice, not breaking eye contact with Barry, "My worst fear is that I won't be able to help you when you needed it even though you were always there for me." At this she looked at the ground, the tears that had welled up in her eyes, slipping out and down her cheeks.

Barry placed a finger under her chin and lifter her head up, locking eyes once again as he moved closer to her, "Kara, you don't owe me anything, and even if you did, the time I have gotten to spend with you is more than enough repayment. In the short time I have been here you have brightened my life immensely with your beautiful smile and cute laughter." Kara blushed red at the complements, "I couldn't dream of a more amazing girlfriend, but I promise you this, you aren't going to die, I'll do whatever I have to, but you and I, together, we're unstoppable. Okay?"

Kara nodded, more tears streaming down her face but now due to joy as well at hearing how much Barry cared for her and believed in her. The two moved in at the same time and shared a passionate kiss that expressed their feelings to one another.

After Kara had calmed down, wrapped up in Barry's comforting embrace and leaning against his chest, the two then made their way downstairs where they were met with Winn. Going off into the hall the two had explained the situation to him and Kara still said her 'could be' goodbye. Kara had then left Barry and Winn together as she went off to talk to Ms Grant.

Walking into the office she saw her boss sitting at her desk, typing away aggressively at her computer as she often did. "Ahhh, Kiera, is there something you need?" Ms Grant inquired noticing her there."  
"I just want you to know that working for you has been a true honour, you're my role model and you lead this city with such strength and grace, and underneath that prickly exterior you have the biggest heart of anyone I know. I just- I'm just trying to say, thank you for being such an amazing mentor and friend.

"Okay, so that was either my eulogy or your dictated suicide note. Is there something you need to tell me?" Cat asked moving her full attention to her assistant.

"No, I just wanted to let you know, after everything that happened yesterday, I thought I should appreciate the people in my life properly."

"Okay, okay, well you've made quite the impression on me too Kiera, now get back to your desk, chop-chop, I've got research to be doing." She said returning her focus to her computer. Kara just smiled to herself, she was finally starting to see the real Ms Grant, not the façade she always wore. She then turned around and returned to Barry and Winn, finding Barry talking to Winn about some computer stuff that she didn't understand, obviously trying to distract him from the news they had just given him. When she got to them, she told them that it was time and they needed to go and deal with the issue now. Barry nodded and bid his farewell to Winn, as did Kara, and then picked her up and raced her back to her apartment where the two quickly got changed into their suits.

Kara then approached Barry, wrapping her arms around his waist as he did the same to her, "Whatever happens, thank you for everything Barry, you are the best boyfriend that I could ever have hoped for." She said into his chest.

"Well, you're the best girlfriend in the multiverse already and we've only been together for a day!" Barry said as he chuckled and Kara giggled at this, the two forgetting their situation for a moment, "Thank you for being there for me too Kara, you've already done so much more for me than you realise." He said before they shared another kiss before racing to the DEO once again.

Upon arrival they were met with Kal, who was in a heated argument with general Lane, from what Barry could tell the general was like Eiling and saw the heroes as threats or weapons and not actual heroes. As they entered Superman dropped his argument and came over, greeting Kara with a hug and Barry with a firm handshake that would crush any normal persons hand.

"I've been caught up to speed on what is happening, I didn't expect Non to act so fast after his original plan failed but at least we caught on to what is happening." Clark said.

"Well, we've located their base of operations, now we have to go in and disable the device that's going to kill all humanity. Barry sped over to the round table in the middle of the cavern-like room, he pulled out a large sheet of paper and pencils off a nearby desk and made a detailed sketch of the area with Fort Rozz, only taking a few seconds.

Then he spoke up a plan whilst drawing it onto the map, "With the device emitting from the prison no human will be able to enter this radius, I will but it will weaken my ability to fight due to the pain. Superman, Supergirl, you'll both be fine, so the three of us will enter the area and try and draw them out. Based on what we know so far, they have an army of kryptonian soldiers and Brainiac. We will need to fight off their army and disable them so that we can deal with the wave. Once we get inside the prison, we will scope out how they are emitting the wave and then find a way to disable it." Barry finished with a now detailed plan of their strategy drawn onto the map.

"How are we supposed to fight and army of kryptonian soldiers as well as a living supercomputer with only three of us?" Clark inquired from his place next to Barry and Kara around the table.

"You both have more fighting experience than them in this environment with your powers, that should give you both an advantage. I should be able to overload Brainiac with power in order to disable her and then help you, Superman, with the rest of the soldiers. Supergirl, you will be dealing with Non who is probably their most skilled fighter, once you deal with him, you'll back us up or if we're done first than we'll support you." Barry replied, received by nods from Kara as she was surprised by how good he was at strategizing, realising he probably picked it up during training at the League of Assassins.

Clark on the other hand was confused with how Barry could fight against the kryptonians with him, even if he was strong, he was still human. "How are you going to be able to fight the kryptonian soldiers, no offence but they are probably more powerful than you."

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve, trust me, together we can do this." Barry responded, Clark nodding in acceptance, deciding that if his cousin trusted him, that he would too.

"When this is all over you are coming with us." General Lane spoke up, indicating towards The Flash, "I don't know who or what you are, or where you came from, but you are not an American citizen and as such are a threat to the nation that we must prevent." He said aggressively.

Before Barry could respond Kara reacted to the threat, "You lay a hand on The Flash then you are going to war against my cousin and I, trust me, you are lucky you aren't our enemies." She said with her deep blue eyes, lighting up with energy, enforcing the threat. The general stepped back, shocked at how ready the hero was prepared to go to war against them for someone who hasn't even been around very long. He then looked towards Superman, looking for him to counter Supergirl's threat against the nation he protected but was further shocked to see the Man of Steel with his fists clenched and angry glare directed towards him too.

After this the three raced from the headquarters, out towards Nevada without another word, Barry running, slowly for him, underneath the two ad they both shot through the sky around 50 meters in the air at around Mach 2.

As they arrived within a hundred meters of the prison that towered into the sky, Barry came to a stop without any skidding, Superman and Supergirl landing on the ground on either side of him with loud thuds that sent slight shivers through the surrounding ground. As they looked towards Fort Rozz the three tried to come up with a way to lure out the army.

"How are we going to get them out here?" Kara asked the other two after a few moments where neither could see a way.

Before Barry could respond, Clark spoke up, "I don't think that will be a problem, here they come." As he said this, he indicated towards the group of people that were approaching them rapidly through the air.

As they landed, a quick count indicated 6 kryptonian soldiers along with Indigo and Non, the two groups then approached each other slightly, Kara stepping in front of the other two.

"Kara Zor-el, my niece we could have ruled this world, but your weak heart has led to humanity's demise." Non spoke.

"What? You couldn't control everyone so instead you want to kill them all? I won't allow you to do that, you best turn the wave off or this won't end in your favour." Kara retorted.

Non just laughed, bringing out a metal ball from behind his back and throwing it on the ground at Kara's feet, "There you go, the omegahedron, you see it is powered by Fort Rozz, and that you can't stop." Indigo then picking up where he left off, "I have locked up all the systems, you will never be able to deactivate it, but to do so anyway, you would have to get through all of us which will never happen."  
"We'll see about that." Kara said before flying directly at Non, colliding with him and driving the two into the side of a large hill, causing an impromptu land slide to form. As she did this, Superman also sped off into the group of Kryptonian soldiers, knocking one out already with a brutal roundhouse to the head that was received with a loud boom and resounding crack.

As the Kryptonians engaged in combat Barry sped over to Indigo, "So you're the quick little one that was able to keep me out of your stupid broadcast stunt. You'll pay for that with your life." The living computer said with rage as she then leapt at Barry with remarkable speed. Despite her speed it was nothing to Barry and he easily manoeuvred around her skilled assault and placed plentiful strong hits onto her body, focusing on usual weak points and joints.

Apart from a scream of rage as her arm had been snapped due to the destruction of her elbow, Indigo showed little signs of being hurt by the onslaught. Deciding a new strategy would be necessary Barry pushed her back with a huge punch that sent her into the rubble that had been caused in Kara and Non's initial engagement, Indigo getting up quickly from the attack and minimally harmed as her broken elbow snapped back into place, repairing any damage he had done.

Kicking up a cloud of dust, Barry sped over to her and ran around her at increasing speeds, the waves caused by the sonic booms that he was unleashing knocking her around in the enclosed circle of his lightning trail. As Barry reached speeds over Mach 35 slowly, not wanting to give away his full potential yet, he became unidentifiable in the storm that surrounded Indigo and as she tried to escape, she was electrocuted and thrown back into the middle as she collided with Barry's fist.

Barry then came to a sudden and almost immediate stop in front of the now kneeling Indigo as she tried to remain balanced, still vibrating with lightning dancing across his body, Barry reached out and touched the living computer on the shoulder causing her to shut down almost immediately, cutting off the scream that she emitted. As Barry came to a full stop before Indigo, she fell to the ground backwards, sprawled on the ground with the three lights in her head gone out. He then looked over to the rest of the fight in order to assess what he needed to do now.

After Clark had engaged his opponents, he had been almost immediately overwhelmed with the constant onslaught of attacks being made by the other five enraged soldiers. Flying slightly into the air, he made quick use of the advantages of his experience as he out manoeuvred the others in the air and was able to take out two more whilst only sustaining slight burns, due to heat vision, and probably a broken rib from a well placed punch that sent him careening up into the sky. Shooting down from the sky he struck one of the kryptonians, knocking him out for good, only to have the other two and one that he had previously knocked out approaching him. The four of them began fighting once again before he had knocked back two of them and engaged the last one with their heat vision, overpowering him quickly. Despite his advantage, his opponent was quickly backed by the other two that had returned, and he was slowly losing as the connected beams approached him.

Before they could overpower him, a loud boom and the sound of cracking thunder echoed across the area as one of the kryptonians went down, digging a long trench in the ground before coming to a stop, smoking and bleeding, obviously knocked out. With the shock of what just happened, the battle of heat vision ended, and Barry pulled up beside Clark with a flash of orange lightning. Now the two pairs faced one another before engaging once again in a fight, Clark and his opponent slamming into one another and shooting up into the air and knocking one another across the sky.

Barry had similarly engaged his opponent in close quarter combat, the kryptonian soldier had the advantage in the fist fight of slightly greater strength but was far outmatched by Barry's battle prowess and was losing miserably as a result. The kryptonian, realising his disadvantage, took to the skies and combined an onslaught of heat vision, freeze breath and swooping attacks to take advantage. Barry continued fighting back but the battle was evened out as many of his attacks couldn't reach the kryptonian and the occasional blast of freeze breath slowed him momentarily.

Barry then attempted to launch lightning, still avoiding giving away his full potential in case and wanting to preserve energy in case he needed it later, he ran in circles generating the required lightning slowly. Before he could finish the attack he was struck by a blast of freeze breath and rendered unable to avoid the next blow, the fist connecting to his sternum and severely breaking his breastbone with a wet crack as blood spurted from his mouth, throwing him back and into the side of one of the nearby hills.

Despite the lethality that such a blow may have for others, as he stood, he was able to quickly regain composure, his bones already fusing slightly together and the damage to his lungs healing enough to stop him coughing up blood, but this did little for the pain itself. As he got a more solid stance, he faced his opponent again, seeing him speeding over towards him in what would be a lethal blow, even for him. Barry prepared to lean slightly in order to avoid the blow whilst gripping the kryptonian and using his own motion to fling him into another hill, that was when it all went downhill.

As he prepared himself, planting his feet solidly into the ground beneath him, the waves from Fort Rozz amplified enough to break through his now weakened tolerance and caused him to fall to his knees and grip his head, trying to recover his control. As this happened, he was left completely exposed and unprotected to the killing assault being launched towards him.

Clark had just finished off his opponent by slamming him head-first into the ground as they had sped down from the clouds in a close struggle, looking up he saw the attack being made against Barry and him falling to his knees, leaping into action he sped over to him but he was too far away and wouldn't be able to make it in time.

After Kara engaged Non, the two had flown into the sky, high up above the clouds, as the two had broken through the white clouds into what seemed like a different world, they sped at one another. As they collided, the force of their blows blew back the clouds beneath them and loud sounds were released.

They continued to trade blows as they flew through the sky, both making use of the clouds to make unforeseen attacks and gain an advantage. After a while of back and forth blows being landed the two collided with one another and began falling through the clouds, grappling with one another for the advantage in their dive.

"Kara, you have already lost, give in and I may let you survive to see a new, better world." Non argued. Rather than respond Kara took the distraction to her advantage and kneed her uncle in the balls, sending him reeling back into the clouds they had just dropped out the bottom of.

Using his further distraction, Kara flew through the clouds, passing by him in the haze multiple times, knocking him about with solid blows. As she went for another pass by, she saw Non's eyes glowing a harsh red and as she made to attack him, he was ready and swung out, fist colliding with her face, sending her careening back with a bloodied lip.

The two then approached one another slowly, becoming more like shadows, visible to one another through the dense cloud. Simultaneously the two's eyes began to glow brighter than their heat vision was flung out towards each other in a battle of pure energy, Kara's bright blue beams clashing brilliantly with Non's deep red ones. As they both increased the power within their beams the clouds were lit up with bright lights of blue and red, swirling against one another on either side. The red began to dominate the sky as Non's heat vision became more powerful and approached Kara, the blue dimming slightly.

Then with a scream of rage, thinking of all the people Non was going to hurt if she lost, Alex, Eliza, Jeremiah, Winn, Ms Grant and most significantly Barry, as this fuelled her, her heat vision brightened to multiple times that of Non's and rapidly pushed back, throwing their beams into Non's eyes and finishing the display of lights in the clouds with a blinding flash of blue.

As Kara disengaged her heat vision, Non drifted back slowly before he began plummeting towards the Earth, growing faster and faster without any sign of stopping. Kara drifted below the clouds, watching her uncle drift down and collide with the ground, resulting in a loud thud as his body lay there lifeless.

As she looked over for where her cousin and boyfriend were at with their own fights, she found the last standing, or flying as the case was, kryptonian speeding towards Barry who had suddenly collapsed to his knees, gripping his head in pain. With a rush of anger, fear and determination, Kara sped off with a loud boom, towards the place where the kryptonian was going to collide with Barry.

She wouldn't let anyone harm her Barry, not if she could help it, ever. So as the kryptonian was about to collide with him she put on a final burst of speed, accompanied with another loud boom, and she tackled his out of the air and off to the side, away from Barry, driving him into the ground in a trench with her on top. As they slowed down, she released all her anger and fear that him attacking Barry like that had caused her and she began pounding his face into the dirt.

As she violently rained down blow after blow on the kryptonian his face became bloodied and disfigured, with many broken bones as the ground beneath his head cracking apart. As she continued to give the bastard hell for what he had attempted to do, she was brought to a halt, escaping her blind rage as a hand was placed gently on her shoulder. Looking over to whoever had touched her she found a bloodied, yet seemingly okay Flash with a grim expression on his face.

Reacting immediately, she leapt up and embraced him, remembering just in time to be gentle, not knowing the extent of his injuries. Barry, who had just regained control of himself from the pain within his head, returned the comforting embrace, the two breaking apart shortly after. Kara looked at what she had done and back towards Barry, then dropped her head in shame and sadness, she wondered to herself how Barry would see her now.

"I would have done the same if he tried to kill you. It's okay, you saved me and we're both okay, your cousin as well, that's what matters." Kara turned back to him with a weak smile on her face and embraced him again whispering a quiet, "thank you" before breaking away as Clark walked over to them from where he landed a few meters away.

"What are we going to do now? We need to find a way to shut this thing down and Indigo seemed pretty adamant about the fact that, that wasn't possible." Kal supplied.

"We need to get inside to find out how to do this." Barry said.

Kara turned to him with wide eyes, "But you were already weakened by the wave, can you even survive going in there. Clark and I can take care of it." Her voice full of concern.

"It will be okay; I've found out all I could about this place and know the most about possibly finding a way to shut this down. We have to do this; the world is relying on us." Barry noticed how completely unconvinced Kara was of him risking himself, "If it becomes too much, I can get Kal to get me out of there or can get out myself before it gets too bad. I promise." At this Kara nodded, still highly worried.

Clark looked at him with increased respect as he saw the lengths that Barry was prepared to go to, to protect a world he had been on for only a few days. The three then raced into the prison and soon found the main room where they surrounded the centre console. From there Kara searched for what she could on a way to shut it down based on her limited knowledge of the complexities of kryptonian technology. Barry on the other hand was sifting through every bit of information on the system that he could find about what they can do to turn it off whilst Clark was unsure what to do. After a few minutes Barry wiped across his face using his sleeve, wiping away the blood that had begun dripping from his nose.

Kara noticed this as she looked up and knew they had to find a way soon, "We have to do something now, there can't be long left before it's too late." After a few more seconds Barry looked up, stopping what he had been doing at the console.

"The system is practically completely shut down, there is no way that we can turn the beam off and the transmission system itself is far too protected for us to destroy or dismantle ourselves in the time we have. There is only one solution that I can see working." Barry summarised.

"And that is?" Clark inquired.

"To self-destruct the entire prison, it was a safety measure included in case of a mass breakout occurring and there being no other solution, in order to prevent the criminals within the prison from breaking out and wreaking havoc. The problem is that the explosive power of the self-destruct is over 1000 kilotons which is 50 times the amount of an atomic bomb, meaning the explosion wound devastate the surrounding 750-kilometre radius, reducing it to little more than dirt."  
"We can't do that, there must be another way." Kara said, fear lacing her voice, Clark reacting similarly.

"There is a way we can do it whilst protecting everyone, well almost everyone, if you two are capable of lifting Fort Rozz to the edge of the atmosphere and flinging it out into space, you should be able to get it to over 1000 kilometres from the atmosphere which would have no effect on Earth as the explosion would force all the debris out, away from Earth, and the small amount that makes it back would burn up completely on re-entry." Barry said.

"That will work, we can do that, we have to do that." Kara responded, "Wait, you said 'almost everyone', What do you mean, will Clark and I not be able to make it back in time?" She asked worried but mostly unperturbed.

"No, it's not you two, you can make it back far enough. The self-destruct system in on a dead-man type switch, it has to be released to cause the explosion meaning that someone will have to be here, within the control room to set off the system." Barry said solemnly as it was obvious who that would be.

"NO! You can't Barry, I will do it, this isn't your responsibility." Kara pleaded desperately.

"I'm sorry Kara but you're needed to throw the prison into space, and we don't have time to find another way. I'm okay with this. At least I will go out saving humanity, protecting you." Barry said, embracing her in a tight hug, ignoring the almost excruciating pain in both his head and chest.

"Go, we don't have much time. Thank you for everything Kara and I'll see you in Rao's light." Barry said, remembering the Kryptonian afterlife that Kara told him of.

Tears poured down Kara's cheeks as she found herself helpless to save the man she was beginning to love more and more. She gave him a final sweet kiss, "Thank you for everything Barry, I will never forget you." She then flew out of the ship, tears still running down her face as she got to the top ring of the prison to pull it up with.

After she left Clark walked over to Barry, "It is plain to see how much the two of you care for each other. I wish my cousin could be with the man she is so hopelessly in love with, for what it's worth I couldn't choose anyone better. In the short time I've known you, you have already shown me a truer meaning of hero then I have ever seen." He said shaking Barry's hand and clapping him on the shoulder, "Is there no way for you to survive this?" He asked in a last-ditch grab at some hope.

"I didn't want to tell Kara in case I give her false hope, but as I let the explosion begin, I will run across the prison and phase through the exterior, getting as much speed as I can to throw myself back towards Earth. With a miracle, I might be able to make it back through the re-entry given my powers protection from the damage that it causes and by getting to the atmosphere fast enough. If I make it, I'm going to be unconscious and need you to grab me." Barry said.

Clark smiled at that, "I'll catch you on your way back, I promise. This world isn't done with you yet and it seems like you'll be a member of the House of El one day." As he said this Barry blushed at the implication but smiled at how he had accepted him already.

Clark then flew out and joined Kara as they began to lift using all their strength, letting out grunts as they heaved to lift the extremely heavy prison, Fort Rozz groaned as it began lifting off the ground. As they flew towards the upper atmosphere the two kryptonian heroes sped up as much as they could and when they arrived at what seemed to be as far as they could go, the air almost too thin for them to breath, they flung the prison forth with a final burst of strength, out of earth's atmosphere and hurtling away into the dark space beyond. Kara heard Barry using her superhearing just after they let go, "goodbye Kara."  
As the prison flung out into space Barry waited, the pain within his mind almost completely incapacitating him, and as it reached far enough away he let go of the switch to activate the self-destruct, and immediately bolted towards the end of the station closest to Earth.

As Fort Rozz was flung from their hands the kryptonians drifted to the side and slipped back through the gap in the prison as to not be caught by it and brought out of the atmosphere. As they watched it fly away, Kara refused to move, despite the difficulty to breath, tears running down her face, she had only just gotten Barry back and now he was gone already, forever. Kal similarly waited beside her but was clinging to the hope that Barry would be flung back towards them.

Second later the entire sky lit up with a jaw-droppingly massive explosion, due to its close proximity to Earth, people across America saw a second sun momentarily appear in the sky as their crippling headaches departed suddenly, then the sky was left coated in fire as if it were the clouds themselves.

Kara and Kal watched as it happened, Kara letting out a cry of despair seeing what she loved most be destroyed just beyond her reach. As Kara turned away, not able to bear the sight anymore, Kal noticed a red blur approaching them and hoped that it was Barry and that he was okay.

Barry had made it to the edge of the prison, the artificial gravity just shutting down as violent waves approached him through the corridor on both sides in slow motion due to his speed. He pushed off with as much force as he possibly could and fazed through the walls of the ship, appearing outside seeing the upper atmosphere of Earth approaching rapidly. He felt himself making a little distance from the wave of fire and destruction that was following him and prayed to anyone that would listen for him to make it before passing out due to a combination of exhaustion, pain and the extreme conditions he was in.

As the red blur came further into his sight Clark recognised it as Barry and realised that he would have to better match his speed in order to not kill him when he caught him. Racing down towards Earth, Clark picked up as much speed as he could, as Kara noticed his actions and soon saw a red blur speed past her, she quickly pursued he cousin and what she didn't know was Barry.

As Barry began to pass Clark, he caught him and began slowing their speed as fast as he could, curving up and avoiding hitting the ground by only a few metres, then coming to a stop almost a kilometre further away. As he came to a stop he looked down at the hero within his grasp, praying to Rao that he was alive and could survive. Despite the blood covering him, dripping from his nose and ears as well as multiple wounds on his back, some of which still had shards of metal in them, Clark's hope was kindled by the shallow breaths he was taking.

Kara then landed next to him with a loud impact and rushed over to them, "H-he's alive?" She asked disbelievingly, thinking it was a dream or something. "Yes, he is but we need to get him to the DEO so that he can be healed" Clark answered. Despite the large amount of worry that Kara still felt, her face adorned a large smile as Barry had come back to her again.

**There is the tenth chapter, hope you enjoyed it.**

**I know it's a long one and I'm sorry if you didn't like that but I wanted to get all of this in there. As per usual, I love to hear what you think and any tips or criticism you have for me as it helps me to write better. Thanks for the reviews I've already got, as i said, it's great hearing from y'all.**

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

After Clark had caught Barry out of the sky and Kara had met up with him on the ground, the two shot off to the DEO at their fastest speeds, both desperate to save the man who had just saved humanity and matter so much to Kara and as a result her cousin too. Upon arrival the two rushed into one of the medical rooms adjacent to the main area, the agents and soldiers inside only seeing two blurs, quickly accompanied by desperate calls for assistance.

In response a team of doctors that were constantly on standby, rushed into the room and could be seen moving around the room through the frosted glass. The team had immediately gotten Barry laid on his back and begun removing the shards of metal whilst simultaneously working to seal the still vigorously bleeding wounds. With Barry hooked up to a drip to restore much needed energy into his body, the doctors continued their work on stabilising the hero and only slowed momentarily when General Lane entered the room and almost began talking before Clark pushed him out of the room with ease, shutting the door behind him.

Kara remained in the room, standing back far enough away from the doctors as to not get in the way but staying as close as she could. She was constantly listening to Barry's unsteady heartbeat, the excitement of his return dying away to a gnawing nervousness, fear for Barry's safety keeping her focussed and on edge. As they pulled the metal from Barry's back and blood spurted across his torn-up suit, doctors rushing frantically across the room trying to get him stable, Kara felt as if the metal was being pulled from herself, feeling as if she would die if he were to. They had been together for only a couple days but she felt a connection like she had never felt before and couldn't even start to comprehend what she would do if she lost it, having thought he had died to save everyone, to save her, it had almost broken her completely and she was only momentarily revitalized by his return, she needed him back.

Whilst Kara stayed with Barry, Clark had taken the general out of the room, having predicted the fuss he was going to make, knowing that now was not the time or place, especially with Kara being in the obvious state of despair that she was in. After pushing General Lane out, the soldiers he had with him approached Superman with guns raised threateningly, red laser sights lighting up on the symbol of his house on his chest.

In response to the threat Superman lit his eyes up threateningly, speaking in a warning voice, "You do not want to pull those triggers."

The soldiers, despite the lack of any order from their general, lowered their weapons, not wanting to go against the extremely powerful superhero in front of them. Lane on the other hand gave his surrounding soldiers an aggressive glare before returning his sights to Superman, "That creature in there is not an American citizen, he is an unknown factor and therefore is a national threat. We have gone far enough to accept you and your cousin, alien, don't push your luck. That monstrosity is coming with us or you're going against the will of the America itself."

Clark responded coldly, "Then I guess my cousin and I are against you general. The man in there just saved the world at the risk of losing his own life, he is one of us. If you try to touch him, you'll have to go through both my cousin and I, and whatever you think of your power, trust me, you don't want to make us angry." His eyes retaining some of the energy that had lit them up when threatening the soldiers.

Lane was shocked by this, he had provoked Superman plenty of times, threatening him on multiple occasions yet he had never before acted so aggressively. Despite this Lane understood that the threat was made in complete sincerity and that now wasn't the time to provoke him, even if the heroes were collectively at one of their most vulnerable points. Signalling to his soldiers, Lane left with them, out of the DEO to return to wherever he had come from, knowing that him staying would be in no one's best interest.

After he left, Clark gave a sigh of relief, his eyes powering down to their usual state. Whilst he had made the threats honestly and was fully prepared to go through with them, he didn't want to cause more conflict then there already was and he wanted to be there for Kara and Barry instead. Even though he had only just met Barry he already felt close to the younger man, he has been a hero for many years, but The Flash inspired him. From what he could tell, Barry had faced some serious trauma, yet he still did all he could to protect this world, a world that's not even his, even to the point of practically giving his life for it. From what Kara had said, Barry hadn't been a hero for as long as him, yet he has a certain quality about him, he brings hope and strength and he is inherently good, better then most. But more importantly was how much he and Kara obviously cared for one another, Clark would say that they're soulmates and would bet on them being together for the long run, that means one day Barry will probably be family, and as is strong with Kryptonian culture as well as the way he was raised on Earth, family is the most important thing there is to him.

Clark moved back into the medical room and moved over to his cousin, wrapping his arm around her comfortingly as she cuddled into his side, still staring at Barry laying deathly still on the operating table, whilst tears fell from her eyes going unnoticed by her. The two stayed in that position for a long time, neither could say how long exactly as they weren't focused on such things, instead focusing solely on the hero on the precipice of death before them. It must have been hours before a doctor approached them, white lab coat and covered in Barry's blood, the commotion around Barry was calming as the remaining doctors cleaned him of his blood and discarded of his damaged suit.

"It is an honour to meet the two of you, truly." The doctor began, "On behalf of all of us, thank you for all you have done, protecting us all. I'm deeply sorry for the harm that it has caused you both and your friend. He has been seriously injured with almost countless broken bones, most of which have recovered quite quickly, even one of his vertebrae that had shattered has mended itself to the point of a mild fracture and is probably already almost healed from even that. His healing capabilities are miraculous. Despite this his body suffered many wounds and he has lost a significant amount of blood, furthermore the surgery put a lot of strain on his body along with the energy consumption his healing is having. Even in his advanced biological state, his body wasn't designed for the vacuum of space, even if only briefly experienced, and has taken further toll upon him. I don't know his physiology well but from what I can tell he will be unconscious for at least a week and will need to be on an IV drip for half of that to restore his energy. After that he will likely be quite weak for a while and will need caring for to get around, but in the long run he should be able to make a full recovery."  
Hearing this, a small smile broke across Kara's face, through the cloud of worry and fear that she still held, it pained her still to see him in such a way but the fact that he would be ok returned her hope to her. Looking away from Barry which she had not yet done since he fell from the sky, Kara looked at the doctor, "Thank you so much." She spoke, her voice filled with gratitude. Clark added in a similar voicing of appreciation, looking back over to Barry and thinking about all the things the doctor had told him, he must be extremely strong, both mentally and physically to have survived the ordeal.

"It's an honour to be able to give back to those who have done so much for us. I hope one day I will be able to see the Flash back out there protecting the city again. For now, would the two of you mind if I checked on your own wounds, they are best not left untreated." Kara tried to refuse, pulling away from Clark to get to Barry's side but her cousin forced her into the medical examination.

After another half hour the doctor had checked the two's wounds and seen that they were all healing fine with their increased healing rates, saying all they'd need was rest and some food to restore their energy. Once he had left, Clark closed the door, locking it and pulling down the entirely opaque blinds. Once he had, he joined Kara at Barry's side. Kara had taken off the cowl of Barry's suit that the doctors had decided to leave on to protect his identity, as she brought it down, she could see the fading bruising on his face and the blood that matted his hair and trailed down his face.

Discarding the torn-up cowl, Kara got a cloth and bowl of water and slowly wiped his face and hair clean, talking care to be as light as possible, not wanting to hurt him, even if he couldn't really feel it in his current state. Turning to look at her cousin once she had finished, she voiced her feelings, "Kal, I can't bear to see him like this, no now and definitely not again. I think, no, I know I'm falling in love with him. I feel a connection to him like no other, it's like we were made for each other, I have to be better, protect him like I couldn't this time." As she spoke more tears welled in her eyes, thinking of what had recently transpired.

Clark hugged his cousin tightly, "I know, I may not be as close to him but given what he means to you, he is as good as family to me. We will protect him, as he will protect us, but you mustn't blame yourself. We are heroes, we do what we must to protect all who can't protect themselves, that is who we are and what we stand for, we will still take risks, probably be hurt again, but together we are strongest, and we will always come back. Okay?"

Kara nodded into her cousins chest, wiping away the last of her fear and hopelessness as she wiped her tears off her face. Barry would come back to her, she knew it, and after that they would both protect each other, forever.

Turning back to Barry, Kara pulled up a chair next to the bed and held Barry's hand as she stroked his cheek lightly, smiling at the now peaceful expression on his almost fully healed face. Clark said he was going to bring them food before he left, closing the door behind him, knowing that even though Kara needed proper rest she wouldn't leave Barry's side.

Returning shortly, the two cousins are a huge amount of pizza and potstickers before Clark left, needing to see Lois and wanting to get some air after everything that had happened. He promised to return tomorrow and told Kara that he was only one call away, as always, if she needed him.

Kara had stayed in the same place for a few more hours, watching over Barry as if he would disappear at any moment. Despite wanting to continue watching over her healing boyfriend, Kara's tiredness overcame her, and she laid down on the bed next to Barry, wanting to cuddle next to him like the previous night on the couch, but not wanting to hurt him and instead laying as close as possible without touching him. It was in that position that she fell asleep, her hand holding Barry's and a smile on her face as she placed a sweet kiss on Barry's cheek before drifting off.

The next morning the two heroes lay in the medical room dimly lit by some of the night from outside slipping through the cracks of the door. There was the soft dripping from Barry's IV bag and the muffled noise of the ever-bustling DEO headquarters otherwise the room was completely silent.

Kara slowly awakened from her deep sleep, having slept for at least 12 hours, slowly opening her eyes, feeling comfortable in the warmth she felt laying next to Barry, not wanting to have to face the world quite yet, feeling content with finding a way to sleep until her boyfriend woke up. As she was fading back to sleep, she opened her eyes again in shock, not having registered the soft, gentle thumb that was rubbing against her cheek. Blinking a few times to recover her sight in the dark room she saw that Barry had turned on his side and had his hand that wasn't in her grasp, resting against her cheek.

"Barry?" Kara asked in an almost silent whisper, confused after the doctor had said it would be at least a week, she couldn't have slept that long, could she?  
As Kara spoke the thumb that had been rubbing her cheek stopped and it was a few seconds before anything happened, then she heard the voice she had longed to hear again for what felt like forever but was actually less than a day ago that she had last heard it. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Tears welled up in Kara's eyes, but these were tears of joy, as she reached up, covering Barry's hand that still rested on her cheek. "You're awake. Are you okay?" Kara said trying to figure out if she had imagined the situation or not, and worried for how he was.

"I'm a little sore but it's nothing to worry about. What's important is that we're both okay and together again." Barry spoke quietly, squeezing the hand that she had been holding as they slept. "I'm so sorry for the pain I must have caused you doing what I did, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I might survive, I didn't want to give you false hope and wasn't sure if it would work or not."

"I-It's ok, I'm just so happy that you're back, nothing else matters, but if you dare do something so risky again, I won't be so kind Allen." Kara said, getting back her playfulness at the end, the two laughing quietly at Kara's threat.

"I promise I'll try to be good. Can we sleep some more though, it's comfortable here with you and I'm still really tired." Barry said pleadingly.

Kara giggled at his exaggerated, desperate tone and leant forward, placing a light kiss on her forehead before laying back and responding, "Of course we can." And at that Barry wrapped the arm Kara was holding around her as she gently laid her head on his chest, fearing that it might hurt him but after no protests, getting herself comfortable in his embrace. As the two drifted asleep again they both had smiles on their faces and were filled with hope for their futures.

When the pair next awoke the door to the room was opened and Kara immediately shot up, covering Barry's face with her body whilst facing the door with her eyes lighting up. The recent events and trauma obviously not having faded from her memory and putting her on edge for any threats against Barry.

"It's just me Supergirl, I come in peace." Clark said as he closed the door behind him, seeing her not quite letting her guard down Clark elaborated, "I come bearing gifts." He said as he drew a large bag of what seemed like Chinese takeout from behind his back which Kara immediately identified as potstickers using her X-ray vision. Rather than responding she instead calmed herself, leaning back up to sit next to Barry on the bed and reaching out a hand towards her cousin demandingly.

Clark just chuckled at his cousins antics and passed the bag but was also relieved to see that she seemed more relaxed then she had last night, or what actually ended up being extremely early this morning. Kara had gotten off the bed and sat in the chair that she had previously occupied next to it as Clark took one of the other ones that was nearby and brought it over to sit on.

Kara quickly began eating the delicious greasy food but refused to move away from Barry, continuing to hold one of his hands in hers.

"You seem calmer than before. Did something happen?" Clark inquired.

"Yes, Barry woke up. It seems like the doctor underestimated his healing ability. We talked for a bit, but he was still tired and obviously hurt so we went back to sleep. What time is it?" Kara said with a cautious smile on her face, as if by celebrating Barry's good health it may go away.

Clark smiled at the news, happy that her cousin was feeling better and that Barry was going to be ok, even better then they had been led to think. It seemed as though the new hero from another universe still had many surprises to come, to say he impressed Clark would be a large understatement and he found himself looking forward to getting to know the young man more, later.

"You've been asleep for quite a while, It's already 7:30, I was kept at work by Perry wanting a story on this whole ordeal and got off to come here as soon as I could. I grabbed those on the way over." He said indicating the now half empty bag of potstickers.

Kara nodded in thanks then looked back over to Barry as she continued to eat, feeling starved after all the energy she lost in the past day. "How is everything, did the plan work?" She asked her cousin, not turning away from Barry.

"It was a complete success, there are some people still suffering from mild headaches but there were no confirmed casualties and the few pieces of Fort Rozz that re-entered the atmosphere were burnt up on the way down. The DEO has done scans of the space debris and it has all been thrown out and is being pulled in, towards the sun, and won't cause any problems." Clark answered, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a proud smile as she glanced over at him.

"Do you have any idea when he'll be able to leave?" Clark asked Kara who had returned to gently stroking his cheek, not disturbing him in his deep slumber.

"Hopefully soon, if the doctors scale of his time awake, to his time healed enough to leave was accurate he should be ok to leave tonight, then I'll make sure he's okay for the next few days." Clark smiled in response, nodding his head in understanding.

"That's great. Where will Barry stay afterwards? As far as I know he doesn't have anything here on our Earth, I'm sure I could help find him a place to stay for a while until he's able to build his own life here." Clark questioned.

Kara turned to face Clark before answering, "he's going to stay with me, after all he has done for this world, for me, it's the least I can do. And it feels better having him close, stronger together, right?"

Clark nodded with a smile, thinking of their house's motto, "That sounds fine but are you sure you aren't moving to fast, living together after only just reconnecting? You two haven't even known one another for more than a week."

"That's the thing Kal, what I feel when I'm with him is nothing I've ever felt before. I thought I liked James, but I was so wrong, this, what Barry and I have, I know it's real and I don't want to let it go. If he wants to move out then that's ok, but I want him to live with me, I have felt incomplete since he left and that has gone away since he returned." Kara explained to her cousin.

"I'm sure he feels the same, whatever has happened to him, he came to you and from what I see, the two of you belong together. Good luck with him Kara, and for what it's worth I couldn't find someone better for you. I need to go back to Metropolis; I was planning on asking Lois to move in with me tomorrow night before all this, so I need to get that prepared." Clark replied. Kara got up and gave him an inhumanly tight hug, bidding him farewell before he left the room at superspeed.

After Clark left Kara went over to Barry and looked him over, moving back a small bit of hair that had fallen across his forehead. Placing a kiss on his forehead, Kara raced out of the room and made her way to a nearby restaurant, from there she ordered a range of food, from noodle box to pizza before returning them to her apartment and setting them on the table. She then raced back to the DEO and collected some of the spare clothes they had there for Barry to change from his medical gown into, consisting of black tracksuits and a loose grey t-shirt.

She then returned to Barry's side, placing the clothes on the end of the bed and moving back to his side, taking his hand and laying her other one on his cheek. Looking at Barry she was finally able to understand everything that had happened. Whilst the past two days had been intense and frightening, Barry had only so recently faced the hardest time of his life and was left with nothing, now he is here with nothing to his name, not even an identity here and he had come for her. It filled her heart with joy knowing how much it was for Barry to do what he had, countering the sadness she felt at his pain. She made a promise to herself that she would make sure Barry moving here was the right choice, that together they would have the best life possible, because when she was with Barry everything felt possible.

She decided it would be best if Barry got up now so that they could head back to her, no, their apartment. He had taken the drip out last night when he woke up, so he would need the food she had gotten and then he could rest better outside the DEO. Placing a sweet kiss on his cheek Kara whispered in his ear that it was time to get up and as if he had heard and understood what she said in his slumber, as she pulled back his eyes opened, blinking in the harsh light of the medical bay.

As Barry came to terms with where he was, he tilted his head over to look at Kara who took was holding his hand and looking at him adoringly, yet he could see the fear and nervousness that still plagued her within her gaze. Seeing her troubled emotions Barry gave her hand a tight squeeze that she could properly feel despite her extreme strength due to his own heightened ability, knowing if he were to try and get up to hug her, he would only display the pain that he was in which she was fearing.

"Hey Barry" Kara whispered quietly, rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand.

"Hey" Barry replied huskily due to his tiredness from both just awakening and from loss of energy.

"I thought we should go back to my place; it'll be easier to rest comfortably there, and I just got some food waiting there for us." Kara explained.

Barry smiled at Kara, just seeing her now, he knew he had made the best and biggest choice of his life coming here and all he could hope is that it would last as long as possible. In response to her explanation he started to sit up, Kara reaching behind him and helping him up. His back and chest were aching tremendously forcing him to hold back a groan of pain whilst the rest of his body was still sore to the point where most people wouldn't try and move anyway.

As he had sat up completely Kara reached over to the clothes she had gotten before at the end of the bed and pushed them into his hands, "You should get changed before we go."  
Barry nodded in ascent and stood up from the bed far more easily then when he sat up given he didn't have to move his upper body much. After he stood up, he looked to Kara who was standing there watching him with eyes filled with concern, ready to pounce to his assistance at a moments notice. Barry blushed a bit and coughed, alerting Kara to the situation, at which she turned around hiding her burning face in her hands as Barry got to work getting changed.

Barry managed to get the sweatpants on without too much trouble but as he got to the shirt, he tried to get it on and let out a groan of pain as his chest was stretched in doing so. Kara turned around at the noise and was distracted by his muscular frame that looked perfect, without any trace of fat and seemed to be chiselled from stone, she soon snapped out of it with an even redder face, looking up at Barry with a worried expression, luckily realising he hadn't seen her. Quickly stamping down her embarrassment, Kara reached over and assisted Barry in getting the shirt on, wincing slightly as she heard him repress grunts of pain at the process.

Once the shirt was on, Kara gently embraced Barry in a comforting hug, returned by Barry in kind. "I think it's about time we went home." Kara mumbled into his chest.

"Home?" Barry inquired, confused as to what she was talking about.

"My apartment, it is ours now, you are going to stay there anyway, and it feels right to call it home when you're there with me." Kara explained.

Barry smiled and pulled back slightly, bringing Kara's face up lightly with a finger under her chin and giving her a tender kiss on the lips. As they broke apart after the long slow kiss, Barry moved back slightly, their lips still so close they almost brushed against one another and their breath intermingling, "Then I guess you should take us home Girl of Steel. If I run, I think I won't make it." Barry said with a slight chuckle.

Kara giggled slightly before ever so carefully lifting Barry into her arms bridal style and pecking his lips before moving out of the facility at superspeed, stopping anyone from seeing Barry's face. The agents at the DEO only mildly surprised as they were used to it and Kara had told Lucy they would be leaving, and she had spread the message.

Flying slowly to keep the flight as smooth as possible for her injured passenger, Kara landed in her apartment through one of the large openable windows that she always left unlocked on the outside. As she came to a halt in front of her dining table that was currently covered in hot take away food, she gently set Barry down on the couch, protesting his offered help and telling him she'll get the food. And so, the night was spent with Kara snuggled up to Barry's side with her head on his shoulder and his head on hers, they ate copious amount of food and talked and laughed together. Once the laughter they shared became too much for Barry due to his chest pains they watched Brooklyn nine-nine on TV which didn't help too much in avoiding laughter. It wasn't until early that morning that they finally fell asleep, Barry drifting off first, still exhausted from his injuries, and Kara laying them down along the couch before following her boyfriend off into her own dreams.

It was with a resounding bang that the door opened the next morning, followed by the sounds of multiple people rushing into the room, one moving faster and almost appearing in the middle of the room. As they entered, they frantically searched across the apartment, scanning high and low in search of something, and that something that definitely found when it came from the other side of the couch.

As Kara woke to the loud bang of the door she was immediately awoken and hastily checked to see if Barry was ok, once she was assured that he was, not even waking at the loud sound, she listened back into whatever had caused the sound. As she listened, she identified multiple people who had rushed into the apartment and assumed the worst. She had not been ignorant to the words General Lane had spoken despite being absorbed with Barry, if it hadn't been for his unstable condition and Clark's actions, she would have done something herself, no one was allowed to threaten her boyfriend. Based on this she was led to believe that these people were soldiers of his that had come for Barry, somehow having figured out his identity and likely hers too.

As such she made haste in getting up from the couch whilst being careful to not hurt any of Barry's wound or alert them to his presence here. Not knowing for sure that these intruders knew she was Supergirl or anything other than ordinary, having changed into her 'The Blur' pyjama's bottoms that had been released after Barry's first visit and she had been nervous to wear around him when he first came back, and the same tank top as before. As a result, she picked up a disposable chopstick from the food they had eaten last night and faced the intruders with what would be a fierce look if it weren't for her cute bed hair and outfit.

As she emerged everyone was in shock for a moment other than Barry who was still fast asleep, Kara quickly threw down the chopstick, not wanting to be teased for picking it up as a weapon and the intruders got over their shock at her appearance and let out a short chuckle. It was then that the two sisters ran to each other, embracing in a tight hug, at least for Alex. After they broke apart, Kara gave a tight hug to J'onn, which he accepted somewhat awkwardly.

"Alex, J'onn, you're back! What happened, why are you here?" Kara asked with wide eyes, confused as to why they had come.

Alex looked at her incredulous before breaking into laughter, J'onn once again chuckling shortly. Kara looked at her questioningly before realising the worldwide threat that she had just stopped with her cousin and boyfriend, causing her to blush and look down, hiding her face beneath her loose golden hair.

Once Alex got over her fit of laughter, she looked at Kara, who had returned to looking at her with a slight blush still evident, "What happened? The media doesn't have the whole story and we were so worried for you." She inquired in a voice of concern  
"It's a long story, there's a lot you missed, but everything's ok now, really, really great actually." Kara said with a bright smile on her face at the end.

Kara's smile brought Alex a lot of curiosity as she had very rarely seen her smile that bright, and it had been quite a while since the last occasion. Even more was that she had probably just gone through some very serious and dangerous things and that made it all the more unusual. That said, so long as her sister is happy Alex would be happy, but she also had to no everything, she was her sister so that was a given anyway.

As such Alex grabbed her sisters wrist and dragged her around the couch to sit down so that they could catch up on everything that had happened, J'onn following behind them, also quite curious as to what had happened to the girl, no woman, who was like a surrogate daughter to him.

As they came around the side of the couch, Alex saw something she never had expected to see walking into Kara's apartment, on the couch where Kara had gotten up from lay a sleeping man.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?" Alex yelled at Barry even though he was still asleep, at least he was before she yelled.

**Another Chapter down,**

**Sorry for the late update, hope you like the chapter.**

**Next comes the building of Barry and Kara's life on Earth-38 and onto some more both canon and non-canon stuff**

**Please tell me what you think and where you think or want this story to go, I'd love to read your ideas.**

**Thanks for reading, till next time folks :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Barry woke with a fright, although rapidly remembering that he was with Kara when he fell asleep kept him from his now natural instinct of attacking anything that woke him so abruptly. Instead, Barry recoiled into a sitting position, leaning against the arm of the couch as far from the noise as possible and quickly analysed the scene before him.

Standing closest was a woman with short cropped brown hair that went to her shoulders, standing in an aggressive stance wearing clothing that seemed casual. Despite her clothing, Barry wasn't blind to the fact that this woman held herself in a way that shouted towards military style as she set her weight back prepared to attack or move away from any attack.

Moving on, behind her stood a frazzled looking Kara with her hair in a mess and a blush on her cheeks that matched the scarlet colour of her 'The Blur' pyjamas, a look that Barry found insanely cute.

Furthermore, on the other side of the couch, which Barry could see over in his now sitting state, was a large, bald, black man with a stern militaristic look on his face and a similar aggressive stance to that of the woman, although slightly better concealed. Including his similar attire, Barry was led to believe that he and the woman had come together. All of this Barry was able to analyse within a few seconds of awakening, including the normal speed at which he had moved up the couch to sit where he was now, as to conceal his true nature if need be given the company.

Noticing Kara's more or less relaxed state, Barry decided that the intruders weren't a threat, or at least not to her, by the look on the woman's face Barry wasn't so sure about his own safety. It was then that he decided to answer the question that had awoken him from the best sleep he'd had in ages.

"Barry, Barry Allen, and you are?" Barry asked politely, reaching out for a handshake.

Instead of accepting the gesture, the woman decided to grab his hand in one hand and his upper arm in the other before flipping him onto the ground next to the couch on his stomach rapidly and with no small measure of force. Whilst Barry could have easily fought back, he didn't wish to hurt this person, as she was likely close to Kara in some way given her barging in, in the morning.

As he hit the floor he let out a small groan as the air was knocked out of him, "I'm Kara's sister and I don't care about who you think you are, you need to get out of here and not come near my sister again." Alex hissed into his ear as she pushed his arm down painfully. Or at least it was meant to be painful but from Barry's training in the league he didn't even flinch in the slightest.

"Out, NOW!" Alex yelled as she got up and pushed him away along the floor with a kick to, he back. It was then that Kara was knocked from her shocked stupor at Alex's violence towards Barry and she realised that she needed to do something.

"Alex, stop. What are you doing?" Kara said, pulling Alex back by her arm a little harder than she usually would, but she wasn't able to control her strength very well seeing someone harm Barry due to her emotions, especially given how she had been so worried as of late over whether Barry would even survive his recent injuries.

Alex turned to face Kara with an angered expression, "I come here, to your apartment, and I find some guy I've never seen before in my life, sleeping on the couch with you. I need to talk to you, and I don't need this random fool around, and I certainly don't want him near you." Alex answered with thinly veiled disgust as she talked about Barry and acting like she is needed to protect Kara from him.

Barry stood at this, drawing attention to himself from everyone present, the man with Alex also seeming to have a hostile front towards him and not Kara but was more restrained. Rather than escalate the situation Barry attempted to placate the disgruntled guests, "It's ok Kara, I'll leave you to talk to these two whilst I go for some breakfast. Want me to bring anything back for you?" Barry spoke softly as to not insight any other outbursts from Alex who was currently glaring at him like lasers would shoot from her eyes at him.

Kara looked between him and the other two for a few moments of contemplation before sighing, deciding that whilst she didn't agree with Barry having to leave, especially in his still injured state, it would be the best way to defuse the tense situation. "Ok Bar, be safe." Kara said, to which Barry smiled and nodded and made his way from the apartment in a normal fashion.

Before he could make it through the door Kara called out causing him to stop and turn, "Wait" Kara said before drawing some money from her handbag that lay on the kitchen counter and stuffing it in his hand. "Here. And get me something on your way back please." Kara asked with exaggerated puppy-dog eyes look, not that she needed it though as Barry would do just about anything for her if she were to ask.

Barry nodded in response, stuffing the cash into his sweatpants pocket and turning out to leave the apartment before the building tension due to his presence were to explode, before he could fully turn around though Kara grabbed his collar and tugged him back to face her. Placing a quick peck on his lips Kara then turned him back around and shoved him out the door and closed it behind him with a cute smirk on her face.

Steeling her expression Kara turned around to face the two intruders, now looking angrier than either had seen her for a long time, if ever. Upon seeing her like this, Alex lost a great deal of her aggression towards her sister over what she was doing with whoever that guy was. After a few moments in which Kara made sure that Barry had left the building and heard the door close after him, she addressed her guests, "Sit. Both of you." Kara commanded pointing at the table.

Whilst most of her aggression was directed towards Alex, J'onn was also caught up in it and realised that it would be best to follow her instruction. Kara then joined them at the table, sitting across it and glaring at Alex.

"What the hell Alex, you can't just barge in like that and you definitely can't go and beat up and kick out my boyfriend. I get it, you're my sister and you're trying to protect me, but I that doesn't mean you can try and control my life." Kara said calming down as she spoke.

"I don't understand Kara. You've never gotten close like that to anyone and the Kara I know definitely wouldn't be sleeping with someone that she has only been with for a short while. I know I've been gone but its only been a few months so how come you're so close to this guy?" Alex explained her view far calmer than she had been so far.

"I haven't known him for very long, I'll admit to that, but I feel a connection with he that I haven't felt with anyone before. He understands me and he's been there for me when I needed him most, he's also the sweetest and most kind-hearted person I've ever met. Alex, trust me, once you know him better, you'll understand. He has been through a lot but he's still strong and doesn't falter." Kara said, Alex noticing the almost dreamy expression on her face as she talked about her boyfriend.

Alex sighed, realising how much Kara cared for him and that she wouldn't be able to break them apart in order to protect her little sister. "I guess we'll see, but for now I believe that we are both in need of a proper explanation of what happened recently." Alex said gesturing to her and J'onn, "The media coverage didn't exactly know too many of the actual facts in regard to the recent events." She clarified why the were so in the dark.

"Yes, I also am quite curious as to the events that have come to pass Ms Danvers. I'd assume that this was the influence of Non and what ever it was that he was planning." J'onn provided.

Kara sighed and then leapt into the explanation of everything that had occurred in the lead up to the arrival of Barry and how everyone other than Maxwell Lord, Cat her cousin and herself had been affected by the mind controlling influences of Myriad.

"It was then that the Flash arrived and found the city under the control of Myriad, therefore searching for us in order to figure out what was going on." Kara explained.

"The Flash? Do you mean the Blur? The fast guy that was recently in National City when Livewire escape and teamed up with that Silver Banshee person?" Alex interrupted.

"Yes, but his actual superhero title is 'The Flash'" Kara responded before going into an explanation of who the Flash is and the events that transpired on his first visit, conveniently avoiding actually identifying that it was Barry that she was talking about.

Both Alex and J'onn had been equally as astounded by the existence of the multiverse as she had been when she found out and had both asked a multitude of questions in regard to The Flash's world as well as the hero himself.

After making it through the explanation of what had transpired upon Barry's first visit to their universe, Kara then leapt back into the description of what had occurred in the past few days.

Eventually, having explained her speech and its success in breaking through to those under the influence of the Myriad Wave, Kara delved into the re-purposing of the myriad device and the resulting fight against the Kryptonian army and Indigo.

It was when she came to the description of how they had averted the destruction of the entire planet and prevented humanities extinction that Alex and J'onn had been truly shocked and on edge. She told the how they had thrown the prison out of the atmosphere whilst Barry held off the explosion for as long as possible before flinging himself back through the ship and into Earth's atmosphere.

This confirmed to the two listeners as to why the sky had been lit up with fire when they had been relieved of their crushing migraines. The two had then gone to comfort Kara for the loss of the hero from another universe that her explanations had led them to believe that she was quite close to.

It was here that Kara's expression had brightened, much to the confusion of her current audience, she had then explained the Flash's survival despite his brush with death, much to the shock of Alex and J'onn who were both now excited to meet this hero who had saved them all, although as per usual such emotions were unreadable from J'onn's stoic expression.

Once she had finished her explanation, Kara waited as silence filled the room whilst Alex and J'onn processed all that had been said and what had transpired in their absence. It wasn't for a few minutes that Alex finally was able to collect her thoughts.

"Wow. I guess a lot has happened since we left, I'm sorry we weren't there when you needed it." Alex apologised but Kara shrugged it off stating how it all had worked out in the end.

"So now that we're past the recent events would you care to explain the man, I found you with this morning?" Alex asked with a hardened expression, obviously still disgruntled by the issue.

Kara took a few moments to decide how to approach her answer before responding to Alex who was staring at her intently. "His name is Barry, Barry Allen and I met him a while ago. When we first met, we got along really well and found that we had a lot in common and we shared all about each other with one another. He knew who I truly was and yet he never judged me for it, he was never scared or forceful. Instead he comforted me and cared for me, not seeing me as just an invulnerable superhero that's immune to all pain."

"It hurt when he soon had to leave to return to his home that was a long way away and it hurt more that I may never get to see him again. It was when he left that I fully realised how I felt, I felt a bond with him unlike anything that I've ever experienced and, in his absence, it left a whole inside me. Then I knew that it was only a matter of time before I saw him again when he returned like he promised and that when he did, I would make sure we wouldn't have to part ways again."

"Then recently he came back and I found out that he felt the same way and he offered to be my girlfriend and I felt the happiness that I'd missed since he left skyrocket and it hasn't truly left me since. When he is here, I feel at home like I've never been able to feel since Krypton. I understand that this is new for you, almost as new as it is for us, but we aren't going to leave one another regardless of what you say or do so please don't try." Kara pleaded but spoke with a voice that left no doubt as to the solemness of her words.

Alex was left, once again, dumbfounded by what Kara had told her. She had never expected something like this before. Sure, with James she had, had a crush on him and she had believed that they might end up testing out a relationship but to her Kara truly looked like she was in love with this 'Barry'. It was as she contemplated this that J'onn spoke up for the first time, surprising her but not Kara who had seemed to be looking at them expecting something.

"This Barry, he is The Flash is he not?" J'onn spoke in a tone that displayed the fact that he already knew this was the case, "He came and went as this so-called hero did and he seemed injured this morning as The Flash would have been from the recent debacle." He explained.

Kara nodded with a slight smirk and Alex was once again shocked but then upon reflecting on the provided evidence she felt embarrassed at not seeing it earlier herself. Alex then thought over everything before asking the question that had been bugging her about the superhero already.

"Barry is from another universe. What can you expect Kara, he's not just going to abandon an entire life to come here and I doubt a cross-dimensional relationship will work out very well? He is most likely their superhero and they will need him as much as this world needs you." Alex stated, but she now held some concern as she saw how much it would hurt Kara to be forcefully parted from this man.

"That's just it Alex, I need to live my life, I can't set it aside for Supergirl and Barry is that life that I want to pursue. I had already decided after Barry had left that no matter what I was going to find a way to him and give us a try. I don't have to do that anymore though, this time Barry came it was for good, he is prepared to restart his entire life here, for me."

"A lot of terrible things happened to him and he lost almost all he had on his past Earth and now he is here for good and until he is settled here, I am here to support him and hopefully after that as well. Regardless of our relationship he will always be one of my closest friends and has been there for me whenever I needed it, now it is my time to return the favour." Kara said, clearly showing her sadness as she spoke of Barry's suffering, only further clarifying to Alex and J'onn how much she cared for him.

"What exactly happened to him to make him want to completely restart in an entirely new universe?" J'onn inquired.

"It isn't my story to tell but the general overview is that his family were all brutally murdered by one of his enemies before he finally defeated him, then upon recovery he came here looking for me only to save our world as well." Kara explained, the other two nodding in understanding.

Alex then stood up and came around to Kara, pulling her out of the chair and into a tight embrace, "I love you Kara, I'm sorry if I was too harsh but I can't bare to see you hurt. I will still have to judge this 'Barry' for myself but I'm glad he makes you so happy" Alex said emotionally, her smirking showing that she wasn't going to go easy on Barry although Kara decided to let it go for now and smiled as she hugged her sister tightly although taking care as to not hurt her.

After Alex stepped back J'onn came forward and also embraced Kara, "I'm glad you are okay Ms Danvers although I'll be expecting a full and detailed debriefing of the matter soon and I will also require a meeting as to judge this new superhero." J'onn said, Kara shocked by the unusual hug from the stoic director although returning it. Also, she picked up on the fact that J'onn's meeting with the 'new superhero' was going to be more than just an official and impersonal one but, similarly to with Alex, decided to leave the matter for later.

After this the two departed with promises to meet up soon but announcing that they must smooth over their return to the DEO and make sure that everything from the recent debacle is being taken care of sufficiently. As Kara was finally left alone, she looked towards the clock, noticing that a few hours had passed and then her face lit up rede as the silence was permeated by her stomach letting out a monstrous grumble.

As Kara was having the much-needed conversation with the two early morning intruders, Barry had left the apartment slightly confused as to what he should do to pass the time, realising Kara would need longer than him just getting breakfast. He had then decided that it was worthwhile to better familiarise himself with the city.

Staying at a slow pace as to not incite further damage on his still aching body, Barry raced through the city at slightly under Mach 1 and memorised every detail he could see. After a bit over an hour he had successfully covered every bit of the city a few times over as to best familiarise himself with the area. Whilst doing so he had also successfully stopped two small store robberies in the lest tasteful areas of the city and helped with a small apartment fire he had passed, all while not slowing down once as to both not be noticed and to work on his skills.

Once he had done this, he stretched out further and covered some of the surrounding areas as well in order to get a broader perspective of his new home, simultaneously reading a paper he had found and comparing his old world to this one. Once he had finished a few more papers he had collected on his run around and growing bored of the activity, wanting to get back to Kara, almost two hours had passed. He then sped past the apartment but was disappointed to find Kara still talking to the two, looking like they would take a while more.

Deciding to finally placate the grumbling of his stomach, Barry grabbed a kebab for his late breakfast and then ran to the top of the tallest buildings in the city where he sat on the edge eating the food whilst looking over the city. Whilst National City was larger than Central, he found that the technology was slightly behind his own world and had found that the leading research company known as Lord Tech was doing very little to develop more tech and instead thwarting people for their money with cheap faulty things with little competition.

He was also further turned against Maxwell Lord by the numerous scandals that his company had been involved in with him as the ringleader that was anti-hero as well as going against public interests and wellbeing.

Other than that he also found that the leading media was Catco Worldwide where Kara worked and whilst he had witnessed the seemingly fluff work they did he saw that they also did some very good reporting, representing unbiased perspectives as well as supporting both Kara and him as he had seen in a recent article.

The city in design itself also differed as the architecture seemed somewhat blander than Central's more futuristic and interesting designs, rather many buildings were simple. Despite this he found that many of the simpler designs in National looked far more sophisticated and sharper than that of his old world.

Whilst such comparisons had developed his thoughts for a short while, they had quickly drifted to Kara as they had done so many times before since his first visit, an infatuation that he was finally able to confidently admit to. He could describe what he felt, he had known that he had, had a crush on Iris since he was young and had at multiple occasion believed that he loved her, despite that he felt a connection to Kara unlike anything else, as if they were bound to each other in this incomprehensible way.

He felt so much more for Kara than he ever had for anyone else before and the thought of being apart almost physically hurt him which was surprising given he could ignore practically all pain from his League training. Regardless of the short time they had been together he knew that this wasn't just some illusion and that Kara was who he was destined to be with, and he wouldn't let it go, no matter what faced them.

It was as the sun was almost reaching its peak that Barry realised that he should probably get back to Kara as he had promised. With a burst of speed Barry rushed through the city and grabbed a large amount of food as he went before returning to Kara's apartment, or what he guessed was now their apartment although that didn't quite feel natural as of yet. As he entered, he saw Kara over at the fridge with her head stuck in it, obviously searching for something to consume.

Coughing, Barry immediately received the attention of the obviously distracted Kryptonian as she twirled around in the blink of an eye to face him, still wearing her 'The Blur' pyjamas although with slightly neatened hair. To Barry she looked unimaginably cute and it took him a moment to break out of his daze, "Sorry I took so long, I didn't want to interrupt. I come bearing gifts though." Barry said with a smile.

Kara rushed over to him at superspeed grabbing the bags of food from his hand and laying it out on the table, the selection ranging from kebabs to donuts. She then shocked Barry as she raced back over to him and caught him in a tight hug as she kissed him passionately before pulling back.

"Ummm, what was that about?" Barry asked, confused.

Kara just giggled a bit and pushed down the deep blush on her cheeks, "I just missed you. Can't I give my amazing boyfriend a kiss?" Kara asked with large innocent eyes staring up at him.

Barry blushed before answering, "Of course not, but I believe it's about time for breakfast" Barry said with a smirk before pecking her lips and speeding over to the table. The two spent the next hour sharing the copious amounts of food whilst laughing and sharing jokes and stories, both savouring one another's company.

After having finished their food Barry had encouraged Kara to go and do something and enjoy herself after the stress of the past few days but she had outright refused claiming that the only thing she wanted to do was be with him and so they spent the rest of the day cuddling on the couch and sharing stories from their lives before watching TV whilst occasionally kissing one another for no other reason than the fact that they could.

The smiles never left the faces of the two superheros as they spent a day relaxing and for once doing something where there was nothing they would rather be doing and that was being with one another. As dinner had come around the two shared another serving of copious quantities of food before preparing for sleep in preparation for the challenges to come as Barry built his new life on his new Earth.

"You can take my bed", Kara said as she came out of the bathroom and stood next to Barry who was sitting down on the couch still drying her hair from her shower.

"I couldn't do that, I'm a guest and as such I'll take the couch." Barry answered not wanting to impose.

Kara had by then finished drying her hair and put the towel down on the arm of the couch before wrapping her arms around Barry's torso as he did the same to her. "Don't say that, you aren't a guest. As I said, this is our home now. Here, together."

Barry smiled down at the beautiful woman in his arms, getting lost in her deep and entrancing blue eyes. "Regardless, I can't kick you from your own bed and I'm perfectly fine on the couch." Barry reiterated, "Now, goodnight beautiful, and tomorrow we can start getting my life together here." Barry said with a smile.

Kara looked at him worriedly, "OK, but we're only leaving tomorrow if you are fully alright, ok?" Kara said still concerned for his health as she placed a hand on his cheek and rubbed it gently with her thumb. Barry simply smiled reassuringly before pulling back and giving her a light, playful shove towards her bedroom.

Kara smile goofily at Barry before responding with a soft good night and picking up her towel before receding into her bedroom, leaving the sliding door between it and the living room open entirely. Silence descended upon the apartment, only being broken by the noises that emanated from the city as late night traffic and life still drifted through the streets.

It was almost an hour where both lay on their respective 'beds' unable to get rest as they longed for the comfort of one another as they had since soon after they'd first met. As a result, Kara gave up and softly tip-toed out of her room next to the couch where she softly placed a hand on Barry's shoulder. He had immediately looked to her equally unable to rest. "Sorry for disturbing you, it's just…" Kara drifted off with a blush barely visible in the apartment only lit by the glow from the street below, "it's just that I couldn't sleep and was wondering if you would j-join me, I feel more comfortable w-with you there." Kara stuttered out, blushing deeply as she continued to stare at the ground with, he hands now clasped tightly together, in front of her.

She was broken out of her impromptu staring contact with her own feet when Barry gently pried her hands apart and lace them together with his own at their sides. Once Kara looked up into his eyes he replied, "I feel the same." Barry said, looking at her lovingly, "Lets go get some sleep." He said as he let go of one of her hands.

Kara then dragged him into the bedroom and the two got into the bed where Kara put her head on Barry's chest and an arm around him as Barry put his own arm around her and placed a soft kiss atop her head, "Goodnight Kara." He said softly

"Goodnight Barry." She sleepily replied already drifting off.

**Another chapter down, I'm so sorry for the long wait I was having some trouble with writing this as I had only planned up to here in my head when i started writing then i was basically off he fly.**

**Just so you know i don't plan on abandoning either of my stories but if i do I'll make sure to tell you so your not just left waiting.**

**As per usual please comment and tell me what you thought and voice any other thoughts you had.**

**The next chapter should be out without as much of a gap as with this one, so with that, I'll see y'all next Chap and thanks for reading :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Kara woke up to the warm, late morning sunlight that drifted through the window and caressed her bare arms in a warmth that made her feel safe and at peace as it had ever since she arrived on this planet. Unfortunately, as she awakened, the light didn't feel so warm, as if there was some greater warmth that she was longing for. At this, without bothering to open her eyes, she reached out across the bed in search for this untold warmth, only to be met with an almost faded heat the seeped from the mattress.

Groaning, Kara opened her eyes slowly and her senses fully awakened only to be bombarded with the raging noises of the already bustling city that she had become to call home. It was a few moments before she could reign in her senses to the point where all she heard clearly was movement in what seemed to be her apartment's kitchen. Lifting herself up on her elbows she peered through the wall and a face-splitting smile broke out across her face as she saw her boyfriend at work in the kitchen on what seemed to be a breakfast feast for an army.

Racing out of bed she soon appeared in the kitchen only to catch the blur that moved over to lean upon the bench as the last of the plated feast was placed on the table. Catching sight of Barry as he leaned against the counter with a cocky, playful smile that silently boasted how he had prepared all of breakfast before she came out, brought an even larger smile to Kara's face as she zoomed forward and tackled Barry in a quick kiss before rushing to the table and stacking a ridiculous portion of her food atop her plate before drowning it in syrup.

Barry had been equally gleeful as he saw the frazzled Kara emerge from her room as he wore his victorious smirk and raced over to the table to join her as she sat at the table. The pair shared the meal happily, sharing few words and plentiful glances at one another that they believed the other hadn't caught onto, the two sharing the respite from the havoc that had been the past few days.

Kara had only found herself feeling better as she sat back with a full stomach, at least for now, seeing that Barry was looking to have made a full and impossibly fast recovery already from the recent event, even if she would still worry over him for the foreseeable future. She found herself looking at her life and realising that she couldn't imagine what it would be had Barry not been there, regardless of the result against Non and his army, she felt that this is what her life should be, here, with Barry.

After the two finished their food they got onto discussing what they had to do for the rest of the day, Barry insisting that he was well enough to leave the apartment. It had been decided that Barry would first set up the multiversal communication device that he had brought with him in Kara's apartment, away from where the DEO or military could obtain it, and fine tune it to function between the two Earths. It had taken some time for Barry to explain it to Kara as she had been interested in how it worked, being able to keep up given the advanced level of education that she had received back on Krypton. Whilst Kara hadn't been able to follow it all, by the time Barry had finished setting the device up whilst explaining it to Kara, she had quite a solid understanding of the sciences behind it even if she didn't know the complex details.

From there the two had decided it would be important to construct his identity on this Earth and a proper backstory for Barry, Kara insisting that they get Winn's help, also wanting to make sure Barry felt at home here and had more than just her. Since Barry had came Kara had been quite worried, especially whilst he was injured and she had, had time to think. Now that her dreams of Barry returning came true, Kara was plagued with thoughts of him leaving or dying, fearing losing those closest to her as she had since she had lost her first home.

Whilst Barry had wanted to race Kara there, as they had done around the city on his last visit, he had been unable to resist Kara's pleading look as she insisted that she would carry him as she was still worried over his health. Soon enough the pair had arrived at Winn's apartment and met with Winn who guided them inside, Barry faltering slightly as the scene reminded him of the apartment that Cisco had used to own that he had crashed at so often when they played video games into the early morning together.

The apartment had empty pizza boxes and takeaway containers scattered across almost every surface, accompanied by empty, half-crushed cans of assorted energy drinks. Sighing at the sight, Barry ran around the room and had it entirely spotless in under 20 seconds. As he came to a stop back next to Kara, he was far more out of breath than he should have been and was slightly dizzy, leaning against Kara to steady himself. Kara had immediately noticed what he had done and was about to scold him for it, but when he leaned on her she felt guilty for thinking like that and instead wrapped a supportive arm around him as she gave him a half-hearted glare that clearly showed her disapproval of his actions.

Barry gave a sheepish look and a slight smile, expressing his apology before the pair turned back to Winn who was looking at Barry with concern as he got over the shock of his apartment actually being clean.

"Um, sorry for that. I'm sure you got Kara's message, so where should we get to work?" Barry asked as the awkwardness in the air quickly dissipated and they got to the reason for their visit.

"Of course, over here." Winn said as he guided them over to a room off to the side of the living area, revealing a tech filled room. Cords ran across the floor in a jumble and wove up the wall into ports and screens, one wall was filled with almost as many screens as Cat had in her office and there was a desk with multiple keyboards and a mouse on it.

Kara was shocked, not only that Winn had all of this set up at his place and that she'd never seen it, but also that he actually had a clean room in the house before Barry ran around. Winn on the other hand followed the two in and blushed in embarrassment as he looked around, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.

"It's a bit of a hobby of mine. Collecting and building High-Tec systems and programming software." Winn moved up and took a seat at the desk, turning the system on as the screens came to life revealing an array of different coding works that Kara couldn't even begin to decipher, Krypton having different systems to hat of Earth and her having not bothered to learn it here. Barry on the other hand was intrigued by the work and was quickly analysing what each were for.

Along with a few of the screens also opened revealing different games Winn had obviously been playing which were soon closed, along with the other programs leaving a blank slate with which they could work.

First the trio came up with the necessary backstory and information required as Barry told them they didn't have to worry about doppelgangers or anything of the sort as he had checked on his first visit. They had decided that Barry would be from a family out in rural areas who had little in the way of papers to get their history and what they did have was lost in a fire. Barry was then entered into the foster system but never found a place, also protecting his identity from being disproven with such things being lost in the system being commonplace.

Next they came up with a more detailed recent history where he worked in another regional area nearby where they had placed his birthplace whilst he was attending a local university, attaining a forensics certification as he had actually done on his original Earth. The places they chose for his work were all local businesses that took practically no records and had little to no online presence.

From there they made it, so he had decided to move into the city to be closer to a friend he had meet on a short visit he had made as he decided to see more of America on a trip. With his history's general information plotted out, Winn, with some assistance for Barry, plotted out more and more minor details that would fill the gaps and leave no doubt to the fabricated story's truth. Finally, Winn hacked into the government systems and entered the necessary documents that are collected for all people such as citizenship and a birth certificate, back-dating it carefully to be undetectable as a falsified record.

And so, the three of them headed out for a late lunch in the mid-afternoon together after Kara had dropped of the printed paperwork that they had created at her apartment, insisting that Barry needs to rest and not even move at high speeds, receiving no resistance from Barry after what had happened upon their arrival at Winn's place.

By the time the three had leisurely made their way to a nearby café for lunch it was already 3 in the afternoon, the two heroes having not eaten since breakfast. As a result, their small table ended up completely covered by the excessive amount of food plated up before them, both smiling at one another before digging in causing Winn's face to morph into one of, only somewhat, mock horror.

After a while Winn eventually joined the two already eating, slowly consuming the burger that he had order for himself as he watched in awe how someone, other than Kara, consumed as much as she could. After they couple had begun to slow down and eat at a more regular pace Winn saw fit to ask the question that had been nagging on his mind since the three had started to form Barry's identity that morning.

"Hey Barry, I was wondering, what do you plan on doing here? I mean for a job." Winn clarified seeing how the question may be misinterpreted otherwise.

At this the pair looked over to Winn before Kara turned to face Barry, also wondering what his plan was. "Well" Barry started rubbing the back of his neck and blushing in embarrassment, "Ever since I was young, I've been fascinated with inventors and when I went to university to study to be a forensic scientist, I took some courses that focus on that kind of thing. I feel like here I might have the chance to do something like that, change the world as more than just 'The Flash'. With my powers increasing my brain's speed I feel like I could achieve a lot."

Barry then looked up at the pair to see them staring at him in surprise and hastily continued, "I know, I know. It's just a dream I'd like to try out here, but for now I need a steadier job, so I was thinking of working in IT at Catco with Winn, if there is a position of course."

"I think it's a great idea. You trying to live your dream." Kara said excitably after recovering from her momentary shock, "And it'll be awesome if you're working at Catco with Winn and I until then." Kara continued with a bright smile.

Winn joined her smiling, "Yeah, it sounds pretty cool, and don't worry about the job at Catco, you can just walk in and say Cat sacked someone and no one will question it." Everyone laughed with the previous tension completely dispelled.

The trio spent a while longer talking light-heartedly with Barry sharing some of the more positive stories of his childhood. After about an hour they left and went off to buy Barry some of the things that he would need for his new life on this Earth. After a short walk, Barry followed the two locals into what had to be the biggest shopping centre he had ever ventured into. Looking around in amazement, Barry concluded that his Earth had nothing on this kind of scale, just the central open area was as large as a small city block and included a larger fountain in the centre surrounded by actual living trees.

Barry was soon broken from his trance like state as Kara and Winn started laughing at him as they had turned to find his frozen, awe-filled expression. As he snapped out of it, he walked over to the other two with a sheepish expression and blush adorning his face making Kara laugh and hug him.

"I'm guessing you don't have something like this on your Earth?" Winn inquired.

"Yeah, definitely not." Barry replied, still somewhat dazed as he looked around the elaborate complex.

"It's the biggest shopping centre in the world and one of the most popular destinations in all of National City." Kara informed him as she pulled back and took his hand in hers, pulling him along after her.

Winn groaned as he turned and followed them, leading Barry to believe Winn had been previously dragged around the shops with the overexcited blonde that was currently pulling him along. Barry's assumption was confirmed as Winn complained throughout their journey from shop to shop throughout the afternoon, groaning about how he had, "already had to do this" and "didn't deserve to have to suffer through it again."

Barry understood how it could frustrate Winn although he couldn't help but enjoy it as he walked around with Kara, who's smile never left her face and eyes lit up as she dressed him in a range of outfits at each store. Barry had never been one for fashion, simply buying what had appealed to him and been relatively cheap and not caring too much how he looked, but he had to admit, amongst the enjoyment of spending the afternoon with Kara he did like the outfits that she had gotten for him.

After having spent a fair few hours in the shops and noticing the day coming to an end through the multiple windowed rooves that ran throughout the shopping centre, the three decided to go and play a round of bowling much to Winn's approval.

As the three had a friendly competition that ended up getting heated as Winn and Kara were neck and neck for first place with Barry a mile behind, Barry found himself to be more comfortable than he had been before on this Earth and could feel it becoming 'his home' rather than the 'other Earth'.

After a few intense matches of bowling Kara had ended up winning with 3 games whilst Winn only had 2 and Barry had somehow managed to fluke one, the three retired to the tables in front of the bowling alleys and Kara and Barry shared some nachos while Winn scoffed down a hotdog and some chips.

Throughout the evening a great deal of laughter had been shared between the trio, with Winn cheering up due to the respite from the hectic shopping they had been doing. Upon arriving at Winn's apartment together and saying their goodnights, the group could all tell that they had grown closer already and gone were the previous strangeness of Barry being there. Kara had then flown Barry back to their apartment and the pair had gotten changed after depositing the clothes they had gotten, and flopped onto the bed beside one another, tired out from the events of the day.

As they lay there, Kara rolled over to Barry, snuggling into his side with her head resting against his chest comfortably. Kara couldn't help but reflect upon all that had led her to be where she was now, with Barry, her boyfriend, which still seemed strange to think although filled her stomach with butterflies at the thought. As she drifted off to sleep a small smile adorned her face as she throughout of how Barry was fitting in, having noticed him grow more comfortable as the three had hung out that day.

As the week progressed Barry grew stronger, recovering from the tiredness that plagued him when he used his powers after the incident, whilst Kara started to worry less over his every move, having been unable to leave his side at the beginning of the week. The pair had spent most of their time together within the their newly shared apartment, by the end of the week they had come to know a lot more about each other's life having talked about everything and anything from their past. As they talked more and more, the pair grew closer, Kara feeling more comfortable than she had felt with anyone other than her cousin since arriving on Earth, felt able to talk to Barry about her life on Krypton and her blood family. Doing so had led Kara to some tears and pulling up memories that she had buried a long time ago, but as a result of having done so she was also able to come to a greater peace with all of it. Barry had been fascinated with all that he had learnt of Kara's past, both on Earth and on Krypton and felt closer to her after having learnt about her past and who she really is.

Similarly, Barry shared many of his own experiences from his past, including those of his childhood before having been fostered by Joe. Whilst he had many good memories with his parents whom he had been quite close to, and having previously told him the events surrounding his mothers murder, there were still thing during that time and after that he had not even shared with Joe or Iris whom he was quite close to, having only spoken of it with his mother. He shared with Kara the stories of how he was bullied almost constantly, trying to hide it from his parents as best he could, and how it only got worse after his mother's murder and he had to hide injuries as bad as broken bones, as he didn't wish to further concern the family that he not yet felt was his own.

The couple had together managed to not only strengthen their relationship over the period but had both also managed to recover from age old suffering with one another's support. As the week came to an end and the new one started, it was with a heavy heart that Kara headed to work, Barry insisting that she shouldn't use up more of her limited time off work for him as they would have plenty of time to be together later.

Kara arrived at work early that morning in a mood far less joyful than she had been in during the latter part of the last week and was only able to drag herself out of the apartment after eating the feast of pancakes, waffles and bacon that Barry had cooked for her before she'd even gotten up. She was thankful for how peaceful the city had been in the past week and put it up to even the criminals being frightened of the recent events, but she knew it wouldn't last. Even so, she was looking forward to when something would happen so she could leave work and stop crime with her new partner.

It had been agreed upon by the pair and Winn that Barry would turn up for work later in the week as to hopefully further avoid being wrapped up in the kerfuffle of the start of each week and go more unnoticed. Winn was almost as excited to be working with Barry as Kara was as he hadn't had a partner in IT before and was surprised that he hadn't thought of just bringing someone in before. They knew that Barry wouldn't be fired by Cat given that she knows who he is and would want the added chance of interviews with the town's new superhero.

Unlike Kara, Barry didn't exactly have anything on for the day, instead of just sitting around and waiting for Kara, he decided that he should work on his speed as he hadn't really used it since their visit to Winn's. Barry knew that he would be getting back in the game as the Flash sooner or later as he couldn't sit on the sidelines and watch Kara go out in harms way. As a result, after Kara had left and he'd cleaned the kitchen he made a call to Winn, inquiring as to whether he was free for the day.

Hearing the opportunity to not only skip out on work, but to work with the 'fastest man alive' and his second favourite superhero, after Supergirl of course, Winn quickly agreed, knowing his absence was unlikely to be noted and Kara would cover for him if necessary. As such, Barry and Winn met up in the office/Supercave as Winn called it, in Catco where Winn and Barry were going to see if they could prepare the necessary equipment to work on his powers.

Winn was sitting alone in the small office, spinning in circles on the rolling chair in boredom as he wondered how the fastest man alive could take so long. In response to his unasked question, Barry appeared next to him out of seemingly nowhere, shocking Winn enough to make him jump from the chair and fall on the ground. As Barry fell into a fit of laughter rolling on the ground, Winn got up looking at him in a mixture of fake disapproval and awe, wondering how his trail had seemed to come through the unopenable window rather than the doorway.

Getting over Barry's entrance Winn got back in his seat as Barry plopped himself down on the couch and they got to what they were doing here in the first place.

"So, what's the plan Flash?" Winn asked, voice filled with excitement.

"First we're going to need to assemble the equipment necessary to track me moving at the speeds I do. Back on my Ear-." Barry stopped for a moment before continuing, "Where I came from, we had access to satellites that could rapidly collect the signals from my suit systems. I've seen some of what you can do, do you think you could get us covert access to some satellites?"

Winn eyes lit up with excitement, jumping at the challenge and chance to prove his value to the new superhero. "Definitely, what else do we need?"

"Well we're going to need an open area that is devoid of people, just in case, and we're going to need similar tech to what's in my suit connected here for you to track everything from here." Barry answered.

"Where the suit?" Winn asked, already working away on the computer and hacking into some of the higher grade satellites currently orbiting over National City.

Barry lifted the duffle bag that he had brought with him which Winn had yet to notice. Placing it on the small table in front of the couch between them, Barry unzipped the bag and pulled out the suit before speeding into it.

Winn, having turned to see the suit, was shocked and left with his mouth hanging open. Winn had seen Barry in his suit previously on his last visit but what he saw this time was quite different. A breathless "Woah." Was all Winn got out as he looked at Barry decked out in his new and improved suit. The design was of a slightly darker crimson colour and was armoured unlike his previous suit that was only designed for heat and friction resistance. The armouring was light and thin but gave off a sharper and more dangerous appearance that gave Barry a more militaristic look.

Despite this the central theme for the suit remained with his usual emblem and cowl, although it was down at the moment. Winn was amazed and knew that whoever had designed this was definitely an expert, not only did it give Barry a stronger and bolder appearance whilst providing greater protection, he still appeared approachable enough to be embraced as a protector by the people as Supergirl was.

Getting over his shock, Winn smirked, "Now that's what I call a supersuit. Let's get this show on the road." He then turned back to his work as Barry got back into his normal clothes and laid the suit in the bag that was left open on the table.

"Is there anywhere that I can find some spare tech that I might be able to fashion into what we need?" Barry inquired.

"Yeah, there's a storage area just out the door, down the hall and on your left It's full of extra stuff that Catco accumulated, none of it will be missed." Winn responded, not turning from his screen as he typed at speeds that made Barry question Winn's own human nature.

Barry made multiple super speed trips to the tech storage room and back, piles of tech and dissembled computers and printers and such piled on the table in front of the couch. Between each trip Barry would sit on the couch and moved at speeds that are almost untraceable to the human eye as he collected a small pile of parts. After a dozen or so trips, Barry seemed happy with the parts he had assembled and then used them to build a few small parts that he then attached into the computer Winn was using.

As Barry finished with the computer, he returned the leftover parts and flopped down on the couch. Winn's eyes widened as he kept working on making it into the satellites and found that the computer had began to run at speeds multiple times faster after Barry's tampering.

Making it into all the satellites necessary in a way that would be unseen, Winn turned to Barry with a smirk on his face, "And that is how it is done amigo. What the hell did you do to my baby?" Winn said gesturing to the computer.

"Just souped it up a little. It'll be able to interpret the high speed data that is being fed to it using the monitors in the suits emblem now. I just need to whip up some software, then we can get started." Barry said, excited to get started. It had been so long since he had been able to work on and have fun with his powers without being under extreme pressure and he missed the elated feeling it gave him and the general fun of it.

Winn's smile widened as he though of all the awesome things they could do with Barry's powers, it was like living a dream as he had always wanted to be a part of the comics that he loved to read. Getting up Winn plopped down on the couch as Barry took up his seat and pulled apart and reassembled the keyboard, adding in a few parts that he had left lying around.

Knowing that Winn was going to inquire as to what he had done, Barry explained, "I just amped up the keyboard to keep up with my typing speed." Not turning to Winn as he had already begun writing a complex software.

"Sweet." Winn said, somewhat out of it as he was thinking of all the awesome things that were happening and how he now had a friend that could keep up with his tech addiction.

Before he knew it, Winn was being snapped out of his daydreaming as Barry turned around in his chair with a smile on his face, "Aaaaaand done." He said dramatically as he stood up.

Winn took the seat and turned to face the screens, Barry reaching over and hitting enter on the program, bringing up a complex array of information regarding all sorts of thing. Nothing was being detected yet given Barry wasn't in his suit, but Winn could see information regarding a ton of stuff from speed and aerodynamics, to the users energy and hydration.

Winn stared at this wide eyed and realised how this could revolutionise his role allowing him to better help the new super-couple of National City. With an excited grin, Winn turned to Barry with a mischievous smile and gave him a nod. Nodding back, Barry raced into his suit and Winn could see on one of the three screens before him, a real time map appears showing National City with a dot symbolising Barry racing through the streets at extreme speeds.

Directing him, Winn was able to guide Barry to a desert outside the City for him to train, far enough from the DEO base as to not get them involved but in a similarly deserted and open area. Barry immediately recognised it as the first place he had properly met Kara and a smile lit up his face as he remembered the scene and thought of how amazing he had already thought the heroine was.

Focussing Barry spoke up, "Winn, you read me?" Barry said.

"Loud and clear Flash. Let's see what you really got in ya." He said in barely restrained excitement.

Smirking, Barry's eyes flashed with intense lighting as he crouched into a runners stance before taking off, accelerating faster than any man made vehicle could ever come close to. Running in a massive circle over and over again, Barry let his mind clear and for him to just run at a comfortable speed where he didn't have to focus on anything in particular.

Absorbed in the old sensation and peacefulness, Barry zoned out for a good 15 minutes whilst Winn was rendered speechless, going over the detailed and real-time data being fed to him that were unimaginable. Even though Winn didn't know everything about all the information in front of him he was still a genius and able to comprehend the basics of most of it and knew that none of this is even close to humanly possible, until Barry came around at least.

Breaking Winn by his awe induced trance, Barry spoke up, "Hey Winn, you there."  
"Yup" Winn said still not quite believing what he was seeing.

"How fast am I going? It's been a long while since I tested by speed and I'm curious how it has developed. Last time I was clocking in at a max speed of around Mach 70." Barry questioned.

Winn choked a little in shock before answering, "Well, sorry to say but it doesn't seem like you've sped up much. Still you're going at Mach 71, that's like unheard of speeds on Earth. Those kinds of speeds only occur in particles and in space."

Barry simply smirked at this knowing that his current speed was more like a cruising speed and not his full potential. Not wanting to shock Winn too much as he sped up, he gave a little warning "Guess it's time to push myself then." Barry said as Winn's eyes widened realising Barry wasn't even at his fastest.

Knowing that the place he was in was devoid of anyone or thing that could be damaged, Barry got ready to go all out, no longer bothering to contain the sonic booms and resulting destruction as he had recently learnt to do. For a split second before he sped up, Barry's eyes filled with a far more intense and bright lightning than before and his lightning trail became far brighter. Not only leaving a extremely bright trail and thundering boom that shook the ground, Barry left a path of destruction as the ground was obliterated beneath his feet, leaving a trench around a half metre deep and equally wide with the surrounding ground being riddled with cracks.

Unleashing his power Barry felt the elated feeling that had previously came with doing so when he had just gotten his power and was able to experiment and enjoy them relatively freely. Feeling his body flood with energy, Barry could see everything still passing as he did before at the lower speed, but he could tell that if he were to hit something at this speed it would cause a hell of a lot more destruction. This got Barry thinking of how that would work as when previously using the supersonic punch and fighting at high speeds he risked damaging himself and often had, his body not being durable enough to withstand the impacts with such force.

Deciding to leave such considerations until later, Barry slowed down to a stop not wanting to cause more damage to the deserted area which already had a ring a bit over a metre deep and wide running around it. Seeing this Barry realised that to properly use his powers he would have to train on moving at higher speeds whilst withholding such destruction as he could already do at lower speeds, at least while he wasn't hitting an enemy, in that case he thought it could come in handy.

Barry was broken from his thoughts as he stood in the middle of the large area and heard Winn speak to him, "God damn. That was sooooooo amazing!" Winn squealed/shouted as he was geeking out over what Barry had just done.

"Barry, you just went at Mach 106 and just then energy and sonic booms that were a side affect destroyed the ground. This is so cool; imagine all the things you could do. If you keep getting faster who knows what will happen. Hell, you broke escape velocity by a mile and are fine and that's not supposed to be possible."  
Chuckling at Winn's excitement Barry thought about such things himself and got a little depressed as he thought of how Cisco would have reacted similarly. Coming out of his depressed trace Barry was distracted by Winn, "Hey Barry, Kara's calling you, I'm going to patch it into your coms."

Before Barry could respond, Kara's voice came through his earpiece and Barry could hear the concern in her voice. "Barry you there?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah Kara, What's going on?" Barry answered, causing Kara to sigh in relief.

"I don't know, my hearing picked up a massive boom that sounded like a huge amount of explosives were let off somewhere outside the city and I was worried you were there." Kara's concern was lessened but she still sounded worried.

Barry replied sheepishly, realising it was what he had caused, "Umm, yeah, sorry about that."

"Excuse me?" Kara responded immediately, wondering if Barry had done something dangerous just after recovering. Whilst Kara wasn't trying to be overbearing, she had come so close to losing him after only getting him back so recently and it hurt her to think that she might lose him again.

"Yeah, Winn and I are testing out my speeds and seeing how fast I could go, I guess the sonic boom was pretty loud." Barry said as he stood in the empty field rubbing his neck and feeling guilty for making Kara worry more after all he had put her through the week just passed.

Kara took a moment before she replied, "Winn skipped work to play with your powers?" Kara inquired in a fake angry tone which Barry picked up with a smirk.

Unfortunately, Winn hadn't seen through it and chose this moment to make his presence on the call apparent. "Uhm, yeah?" Winn answered but it came out as more of a question then an answer.

"Wwwiiiiinnnnnnnnnnn." Kara whined dramatically, "How could you leave me to deal with Ms Grant alone." She said in a tone of betrayal and hurt, and it was then that Winn picked up on her acting.

All three on the call broke down in laughter but Kara had to stifle her laughter as she sat at her desk outside Ms Grant's office, instead making her laughter come out in a snort like manner. This only caused the other two to laugh harder as Kara blushed heavily.

"Shut up." Kara whined as they laughed at her, but she couldn't help but smile as she heard Barry's joyful laughter, "So long as you're ok Barr, please don't go getting yourself hurt though. And Winn." Kara said.

"Yeah Kara?" Winn answered curiously.

"Get your butt down here now." Kara answered as she had heard Winn's laughter upstairs with her hearing. Winn's gulp was clearly heard by the other two and he said a quick a sheepish, "Okay, see you later Barr." Before he hung up and ran to the elevator and headed back to his desk.

Kara and Barry laughed as Winn hung up, Kara not bothering to cover up her giggling. This caused Barry's face to light up in a smile as he heard Kara and he decided what to do with the rest of the say.

"Say, Kara? Lunch is soon, how about I drop off my suit in the Supercave and meet you in the lobby?" Barry offered excited to see Kara even though it had been only a few hours.

"We did not agree to call it that." Kara complained indignantly before responding with similar excitement to Barry, "But lunch sounds great. See you in a flash." Kara said as she giggles to herself and Barry groaned before laughing as well as Kara used his usual punchline.

Hanging up, Barry raced back to their base of operations at a more manageable speed whilst keeping any aftermath of his movement contained from damaging the city. As he got to the base, he chuckled to himself as he saw Winn's tipped over chair and how he had carelessly left the door agape in his rush.

Shutting the door and picking up the chair, Barry groaned as he felt his sore muscles although he knew they would be completely mended in a few moments. Feeling this, he decided that he had to work on his endurance and strength in general if he wanted to push himself to higher speeds at some point. Realising how he was sweaty and somewhat tired from the run; Barry grabbed his stuff and went to Kara and his now shared apartment. Quickly showering, Barry got changed and rapidly cleaned his suit with water and then speeding it dry by spinning it rapidly, knowing all the components were waterproof.

Emerging from the bathroom he quickly scoffed down a few muesli bars from the cupboard in order to give him a bit more energy before lunch, instantly feeling the effect as his tiredness was relieved and his glucose levels restored. Running to Catco, Barry stopped beside the building and made a normal entrance that was perfectly timed. He met Kara just as she emerged from the elevator and the two gave each other a tight hug and quick kiss before walking out hand in hand.

The pair went to a nearby diner that Kara said served large portions and the food was good. Happy enough to go anywhere with Kara and further enticed by the offer of food Barry merrily walked alongside Kara as they both observed the bustling city, often glancing at one another simply admiring their unlikely situation and relationship and reflecting on their luck. Occasionally they would end up meet one another's eyesight and smile and blush slightly before returning to looking at their surroundings. Whilst they didn't talk on the way there, the pair felt more comfortable then they had in a long time and were both craving the food that was to come.

As they arrived the two ordered a large burger and fries each with large thick shakes which caused Barry's stomach to growl in anticipation. Kara blushed and looked over to Barry as she had often been embarrassed by how much she ate knowing it could easily be perceived as unattractive. As their eyes met Barry simply smirked at her, his excitement for the food shining in his eyes and reaching out and taking her hand in his own across the table. Kara couldn't help but feel her heart flutter at this simple gesture as she realised that Barry would never judge her for who she was, and she couldn't help but acknowledge how lucky she was.

Kara giggled as she realised, they were both staring at each other, and realising the ridiculousness of their semi-romantic actions over copious amounts of food in a fast food diner. Barry joined her laughter and the two chatted away gleefully over their lunch talking about everything and nothing at the same time, both completely satisfied with the company of one another. After eating their food and paying for it, the two strolled down the street slowly, swinging their interlocked hands between them as they were more often than not staring at one another, neither feeling the embarrassment that they would have thought they would be being caught doing so.

As they arrived at the doors to Catco, Kara halted before informing Barry of what had happened. "Sirens in the distance, There's a building fire and its gotten to the supports" Kara informed Barry as she listened to the building and the firemen collected outside it.

"Sounds like a job for Supergirl and The Flash." Barry said with looking into Kara's eyes with a smile.

Kara's eyes lit up as Barry said that he would come along and nodded with a smile of her own as they raced off towards the building. Kara changing out of sight beside the Catco building whilst Barry ran back to their apartment for his suit and met her beside Catco after she finished changing.

The two then raced through the streets, Barry going slowly as to follow Kara, the two arriving moments later in front of the building on fire. They saw a group of people, including reporters and cameramen from news stations, being pushed back into a safe perimeter around the building by police.

Kara, after surveying the problem informed Barry of the situation, "Flash, it seems like an apartment on the bottom floor caught fire before it spread to the basement and crippled the supports. There are still people stuck on every floor as the fire climbed up and trapped them in, firemen can't get them out as the structure is to fragile to risk it."

Nodding, Barry considered the situation and the best course of action, running scenarios in his head rapidly and almost instantaneously gave Kara an answer. "There's a building site there, just down the street." Barry said indicating the site only a few buildings away. "If you can get strong metal beams from there you can use them to reinforce the supports whilst putting out the fire and preventing more damage in the basement. While you do that, I'll get everyone out of the building and begin getting the fires out from inside, when you're done you can come help me and we should be able to prevent any casualties."

Kara smiled as Barry rapidly devised an achievable plan and was elated to have a partner that could help her. Once Barry had finished the pair moved to complete their tasks straight away. Barry raced to the lower floors first and evacuated them of the trapped victims. As he moved at extreme speeds, Barry delivered all the victims to the ambulances that were waiting at a safe distance, not waiting to say anything before moving back in for more. In a matter of less that a minute he had managed to completely evacuate the building and began removing the oxygen from the flames by creating vortexes by rapidly spinning his arms. Starting on the lower levels he moved his way up making sure all the fire was removed from the air.

As Kara saw Barry race into the building she quickly flew over to the jobsite before returning with 3 heavy duty support beans under each arm as she flew into the building and down to the basement. As she arrived, she dropped the beams with oud clangs as they hit the ground whilst she uses her freeze breath to suffocate the flames from the floor and solidify the crumbling supports. Picking up the metal beams she moved on to further securing the building, each beam was held up as she bent it into shape to fit the space before welding it in position with her heat vision.

Reflecting on her job, Supergirl was satisfied that the building was secure as she x-rayed the structure and saw it stop crumbling. Seeing this she flew out of the building to the street and saw that Barry had finished getting everyone out. Seeing this she moved up to the top floor and started putting out the fires as she worked her way down. By the time she reached the 4th floor around the middle, she realised they had successfully put out all the fires.

Both superheroes made their way to the street in front of the building where the crowd were cheering on their resident superhero and her new teammate, shouting out their support and thanks. It was then that Kara got her first chance to properly look over Barry in his suit without all the pressure from crisis bearing down on her. Looking him over she saw how his uniform had changed and she liked it, it made him look more powerful yet didn't make him unapproachable to the people and she smiled at what was likely Cisco's amazing handiwork. It was then that she realised that he looked really hot in it too and blushed at the thought, using her hair to block out her face for a moment and hoping the cameras didn't catch it.

Again, Kara realised how lucky she was to have him hear, and not only that but for him to be her boyfriend and partner, she already couldn't imagine life without him, and this was only their first normal superhero action. Smiling at him she gave him a high-five as they walked over to the surrounding crowd. Similar thoughts went through Barry's mind as he looked at Kara seeing how truly amazing she was as a strong and brave hero, but also a brave and caring person. He also noticed how amazing she looked in her costume despite the slight ash on her face from the fire and found himself blushing as he smiled at his luck of finding her and being with her.

As they approached the crowd Barry moved over to the multiple ambulances that were parked next to the crowd. Going between them he went up to a young girl that was standing there clutching her soft toy and wearing a pink dress, her and her toy both covered in ash from the fire. Despite the speeds that Barry had moved at her had interpreted everything that he passed and was and could remember this girl, as such he knew that she was alone in her home when he got her and was hiding beneath her bed. Seeing how frightened she was Barry went up and kneeled in front of her as he reached out and rubbed some of the soot from her face.

"It's going to be okay, I promise, you're safe now." Barry said calmly and warmly.

He noticed she was shivering and had a few tears leaking from her eyes. Lifting the girl up in his arms Barry realised she couldn't have been older than 4 or 5 and he spoke to her softly some more assuring her she was okay. After a few moments she began to trust him and stopped shivering as she wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her against his side, and she found comfort in his protective embrace. Barry looked through the crowd and he found a young couple that were pushing through the crowd frantically. Approaching them, they noticed him and more importantly who was in his arms and ran out to him.

"We only ducked out to the shop for some food next door, we had no idea." The man said is despair.

The woman ran to Barry and took her daughter from him, "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She mumbled over and over again as she hugged her daughter close who had stopped crying and was looking at The Flash with large still watery eyes.

"Thank you for protecting me mister." She said in a little voice to which Barry smiled and she returned it.

"It's no problem. We all need a little help sometimes. And the name's Flash" Barry said with a comforting smile towards the young girl.

"My names Emily. Thank you Flash." She answered in a more confident voice before her parents went off towards the paramedics to make sure she was fully okay.

As he did this Kara watched with a bright smile on her face and further confirmed how lucky she had gotten with Barry. She looked around and noticed all the people taking photos and media attention and realised with a groan how hectic this would make her afternoon at Catco.

As Barry had finished up, he moved back over to Kara and they smiled at each other, all the new reporters and journalist deciding that was the time to move in. As they were surrounded Barry stepped back slightly to give Kara the lead, unused to the situation having gone so long without doing this kind of thing and having not been so close to the media in Central City.

Kara instead moved to where they stood side by side and gave Barry a reassuring sideways glance. Gaining support from Kara, Barry turned back to the reporters and their onslaught of questions. As they saw that they had their attention the reporters quietened down so their actual questions could be heard.

The first reporter at the front asked the first question, "So, as I am sure everyone here is asking, could you tell us who you are sir?"

Barry answered the question after a moments hesitation, "My name is the Flash and you might have noticed me here a few months ago. I'm happy to say that this time I am here to stay for a good while longer."

The next reporter asked a question, "What is your relation to Supergirl. Are you her sidekick? Protege?"

Barry glanced towards Kara before she smiled and answered the question herself, "The Flash here is my partner, my equal. Together we hope to protect this city better and help the people." Supergirl stated confidently, Barry amazed by how confidently the girl before him was given how meek she often acted.

"Do you have a statement in regard to the recent events that took place in National City." Another reporter asked, directing the question towards Supergirl, obviously refer to the Myriad situation.

"There was an enemy that wished to take over our world and rule it for themselves. They wanted to do this by taking away the people's free will. If not for the help of Cat Grant, Superman and The Flash here." Kara said gesturing to Barry, "This city wouldn't be as it is today."

Another reporter asked a question but instead directed it towards Barry, "What do have to say about the save today. You were able to completely evacuate the building yourself and these people would not have survived without you."  
Barry was somewhat angered by the disregard for Supergirl's help although kept his cool as he answered, "It's great to be able to help but it should be known that the building would have collapsed if not for Supergirl's assistance, this was our save, not mine." At this Kara smiled at him brighter than she ahd already been smiling and felt butterflies in her stomach.

The pair decided that was enough questions as the reporters went back to eagerly bombarding the pair. Running back to Catco the two got back into their normal clothes and walked out to in front of the entrance.

"I had a really great lunch with you today and it was awesome stopping crime with my super-partner." Barry said with a bright smile.

Smiling back Kara responded, "I had a lot of fun too, more than I've had in a long while. I'll see you after work at the apartment, and no more training today, oaky?" She said sternly yet still playfully.

Smirking, Barry answered, "Oakily Doakily, see you after work Supergirl." Barry then leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. As he went to pull away, Kara responded, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a longer kiss before pulling back as she turned to head inside.

Catching her by her shoulder before she could turn, Barry used his thumb to wipe a bit of soot off her nose before smiling and saying, "There you go, see you later."

"Oh, what would I do without you. My superhero." Kara said dramatically with a giggle before giving Barry a quick hug and raced inside, her lunch break being long over.

Barry laughed at her antics and headed back to the apartment where he decided to wait for her and rest on the couch for the afternoon whilst watching some Netflix. He was more tired than he should be, even though he pushed himself in training, and he didn't want Kara to worry but he knew he would be better soon.

**And there goes another chapter,**

**I'm so sorry for the super-slow updates, I didn't mean to take so long each time but my life is really hectic lately.**

**I'll try to get them out in a more timely manner but I apologise if it takes longer.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and as per usual, comments are much appreciated so tell me what you think, what you want yo happen or what I can do to write better.**

**Also, I was wondering how fast you want me to progress to Barry opening his own business and invent stuff.**

**So, tell me what you want to happen and it very well might as I haven't planned out what will happen.**

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time :)**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

As Kara entered Catco, even just in the lobby, she was bombarded by the loud ruckus occurring throughout the multimedia hub. She quickly made her way to the elevator, hoping to get back to her desk before her absence is noted of by her boss. As the elevator doors opened, she was once again hit with a wave of sound that made her silently curse her over-sensitive hearing. Walking towards her desk as she pushed through the waves of people, Kara had to make a quick diversion as she saw James about to cross paths with her. She finally made her way to her desk that seemed to be in a sort of exclusion zone with nobody wanting to get too close to Ms Grant as a result of a healthy dose of fear for the woman.

Sitting down in her chair she leant back slightly and let out a sigh of relief, having avoided being caught out and having to fabricate a lie or admit taking an elongated lunch break that would just make Ms Grant annoyed at her.

"Kiera!" Kara heard the loud shout of her name, or at least what Cat had decided it was, and shot up in her chair, frantically looking around the room for her boss. It was then that she noticed a giggling Winn who had rolled his chair over to in front of her desk. Letting out an annoyed huff Kara faked a look of anger but couldn't get rid of the smile that was on her face since going out for lunch with Barry causing Winn to see through the façade almost immediately.

Letting up her failed façade, Kara smiled at her geeky friend and crinkled her eyebrows slightly, silently asking why he had called out to her.

"I see you enjoyed your lunch date with your boyfriend. Wouldn't say that's the normal way to do it though, would you?" Winn questioned.

Kara couldn't supress the chuckle that rose in response to Winn's questioning and took a moment before she could reply, "It was great for your information and I'm sure your quite aware that Barry and I aren't a 'normal couple'." Kara said with a bright smile on her face as she again thought back to her well used lunch break.

Winn smiled back at his friend, whilst he may have had feelings for her in the past as it was almost impossible to meet her and not love the heroine to some extent, he had gotten over it and recognised how great a couple she and Barry made. It also didn't hurt that Barry was a superhero and Winn was almost shaking in excitement each time he thought of all the awesome things to do with him and was looking forward to having his first, similarly nerdy, male friend.

Despite this, he wished that James would come around from his attitude towards Barry and how he kept pining over Kara and trying to be with her. James had been a good friend before, but it had soon become apparent that he was there to be with Kara and not much else which got on Winn's nerve and by how he was acting, and Kara acted around him now, he knew any good friendship was long gone.

"Kiera!" The shout came once again although this time it was unmistakably from the boss herself. Kara jumped from her seat and rushed into the office not wanting to keep her waiting longer than necessary. Rushing into her office, the glass door swung shut behind her and Kara stood attentively in front of her boss awaiting whatever it was that she had been called in for.

"I see your dashing friend's back on the streets Kiera." Ms Grant stated as she indicated towards the screens behind her showing an array of pictures that depicted their actions only moments ago along with an array of news stations showing the short interviewing of the pair just before.

Kara just waited for Ms Grant to continue rather than responding to the statement, "At least Supergirl has acknowledge my own participation in the events of Myriad and its resolution which has done wonders for Catco's reputation and popularity. She has also attested to the contributions of 'The Blur' or as he rather idiotically calls himself, 'The Flash'. In light of his own assistance and wanting an amiable relationship I'm willing to let the name slide although it's of utmost importance that Catco claims this hero, as we did with Supergirl, before someone else can." Ms Grant explained.

"Of course, may I ask as to where I come into all of this?" Kara asked tentatively, knowing that she wasn't usually included in such things for more than her opinion and getting Ms Grant a coffee as she worked.

"Well, over your time here as my assistant you have not only met but exceeded my expectation." She answered making Kara grin with glee internally although she was able to retain a stoic expression, "As such I believe it is time that you began moving on from just working as my assistant. Your first task will be to write a piece on the new superhero in order to claim him as National City's hero, and Catco's as well."

To say Kara was shocked would be an understatement as she knew of the importance of such an article and that Ms Grant herself had written the first piece on Supergirl due to its significance. Breaking from her momentary trance, Kara responded to Ms Grant's instruction, "Of course, when will you need the piece finished?" Kara inquired, eager to not only get started on the piece but to also squeal in joy and tell Barry the news.

"I will be expecting the final copy on my desk by tonight for tomorrow's morning issue. You know this hero and have good potential for writing Kiera so I'm giving you this opportunity. Don't disappoint me." Ms Grant said before turning to her laptop and continuing typing whatever it was, she had been working on.

Kara, receiving the unsaid instruction turned and left the office. Despite the pressure that this was she couldn't help but feel inflated inside as she thought about how many things had ended up turning out so well for her recently. Moving to her desk, Kara sat down, pulling out her laptop and pulling up an empty document upon which she can start writing the article.

As she was about to get started, her thoughts were interrupted as Winn's head popped up from behind her screen and startled her, causing her to let loose a slight squeal that she soon muffled.

"Winn!" She hissed angrily, but he could see that the anger was from shock and not genuine.

"So…? What was that about Kara?" Winn inquired with curiosity clearly written across his face.

Kara pushed away her shock and settled herself before she answered Winn with an infectious smile playing across her face, "Ms Grant gave me the first article for Catco on the Flash as a test for me to be an actual reporter. Can you believe it?" Kara whisper-yelled and Winn's eyes widened.

"Woah, that's so awesome. You're totally gonna crush it Kara." Kara smiled at the faith that her friend had in her before he moved back to his desk, allowing her to focus back on the task at hand.

Stretching out her fingers in front of her, Kara felt and heard a few cracks and she grinned before she started writing rapidly. Over her time on Earth she had become more in control of her strength and was now able to type using some of her superspeed without obliterating her own keyboard.

As she typed away her thoughts drifted off, thinking about Barry and her lunch as well as the scene that she was actually writing about. A smile broke out on her serious and focussed face and she turned her attention back onto the article that she hadn't slowed in her writing of as she drifted into her thoughts.

As the sun drooped below the horizon the office was bathed in a warm orange glow and Kara took the chance to glance out the window, appreciating the view that she had of the beautiful cities horizon. In the few hours that she had been at work she had been able to finish her third redo of the article and work away at it, refining it further and further. She had grown frustrated a few times as she was striving to perfect her work.

By now she was happy with her work and was instead struggling too decide on what image to pair her work with that she had been supplied by the photography division, Winn thankfully dealing with James in order for her to get it. She had decided to write the piece from the perspective of a citizen of National City rather than assuming the more aloof and professional approach that most reporters wrote in. It was something that she had read in some of the work that her cousin and Lois had done and thought that it perfectly suited the piece.

Through writing from the point of view of a citizen she aimed to capture the emotions of those reading it and paint Barry from the view of those who had been protected just earlier that day by the pair of heroes. Through this she was able to write in a way that quelled potential animosity toward the foreign and powerful figure whilst forming a kind of friendly repour with 'The Flash' as she finished with his title, claiming him with the title as Catco had done herself only months prior.

As she was struggling with the image for her article Kara was broken from her thoughts as she saw someone that she definitely hadn't expected to see standing in front of her desk. Standing, she quickly made her way around the desk, grasping them in a tight embrace that would kill most people other than him. Even though she had seen him so recently, the distance between the two had consistently bothered her as she wanted to be closer to him and see him more often.

"Hey Kar, I heard from Winn that you had been given your first article and I couldn't help but drop by and congratulate you myself. I'm so proud of you and I'm sure it's going to be great." He said with a huge smile.

At this Kara glanced at Winn who had a sheepish expression before she turned back to her visitor with a wide smile. "Thanks for coming Kal, I really enjoy seeing you." Kara said excitedly.

"I wouldn't miss it for a thing." Clark responding before indicating to the doorway onto the nearby balcony, "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Kara nodded, face alight with curiosity as to what it is that her cousin wanted. Following him out there, the cousins stood next to the railing and across the city that was still illuminated with the now rapidly fading light of the day. "What's wrong Kal? Is everything ok?" Kara asked in concern.

Clark responded as he wrapped an arm around his beloved cousin, "Not really. I need to apologise, for a few things." He started, Kara going to interrupt before seeing his face and deciding to wait until he's said his piece, "Kar, I love you, you're the last of my blood family and you mean the world to me and I'm just afraid that I haven't been there for you as I should have. I should have been there more when you were growing up, definitely when you came out as Supergirl and just been in your life more often. I was caught up in my own little world that I didn't realise I was so far distanced from something so important and the recent stuff with Non and Myriad has made me realise this."

"I swear to you Kara that I'm going to be there more often, and I know that you have Barry with you now as a partner and support as Supergirl, but you need to know that I'm always one call away, no matter what." Kara smiled, giggling slightly as Clark referenced the song that he had complained about often, but she knew that he loved.

Truthfully, the pair had grown far closer since she had gone and seen him in Metropolis, as well as Kara and Lois, but it still filled Kara's heart, hearing her cousin say that and that he was going to be more involved in her life. Before she answered she pulled her cousin into a hug with all her strength.

"I love you to Kal and your forgiven, for everything. You have your own life to live and I understand that, but I'm also really happy that we're going to be closer." Kara said, her happiness shining in her bright smile.

Clark held her tight to himself and shared the same smile that clearly revealed their relation to one another. "If anything, working with you has shown me how superheroes are far stronger together than apart, as is family." Clark said as the smile never faltered on his face.

Pulling apart after a while, Clark pulled a USB from his pocket and gently placed it in Kara's hand and closed her fist around it. "I arrived at lunch time today and was going to asked to eat with you before I saw how happy you were with Barry" Clark said quietly, "He seems like a great man that is perfect for you and if I'm being honest, he inspires me with how he holds himself as a hero. And don't go telling him that, I need to keep up the visage of the protective superpowered cousin." Clark said with a chuckle and a wink, causing Kara to laugh as well.

"Anyway, on the drive is an image of 'The Flash' from today that I took on one of the Daily Planet's camera that I brought with me. I think it'll suit whatever article you wrote perfectly, just don't tell Ms Grant where you got it and definitely don't tell Perry, or I don't think even Supergirl could save me" Clark said causing the two to break down into laughter.

"Thanks, Kal" Kara said as she hugged him super-tight once again, "How about Barry and I come up for dinner sometime soon with you and Lois?" Kara offered.

"Lois would love that, she's so eager to meet Barry I'm afraid I have competition for who her favourite hero is." Clark responded.

"Don't worry, it's only for second place, I'm obviously her undeniable favourite." Kara said with a laugh at Clark's faked shocked face.

Clark smiled brightly one last time before he placed a soft kiss on Kara's forehead then shot off into the sky and back towards Metropolis.

Unable to wipe the smile off her face, Kara walked back inside, thanking Rao silently for no one having noticed her cousin shoot off into the sky. Sitting down at her desk she plugged the USB into her laptop and opened the image that was stored on it before her smile, if possible, got even wider and she couldn't help the few tears that welled in her eyes.

One tear slipped from her eye before she wiped them and dragged the image into the awaiting slot in her article and sat back feeling elated. She had Barry, she had her cousin, she had Winn, she had Alex, she had Eliza, she had her job and what looked to be a better one soon, she had all she needed. Sure, many things in her life hadn't been easy and a lot had been painful, but she couldn't help but think that it all might have been worth it for what she has now, and she thanked Rao for how his plan for her was going.

Moving the entire document with her article across to the USB, Kara ejected it and entered Ms Grant's office, taking a deep breath as she composed herself. Walking further into the office, Kara came to a stop in front of her boss' desk and waited silently. She then made a small cough as Ms Grant hadn't acknowledged her presence yet, drawing up her attention although she suspected that her boss had known she was there all along.

"So, Kiera. What brings you here?" She asked, eyes scanning over Kara as if analysing her, causing Kara to grow slightly more nervous than she already was.

"uh, I finished the article Ms Grant." Kara started nervously before growing more confident.

"I see." Ms Grant responded, taking the USB from Kara's outstretched hand and plugging it into her own computer. As she drew up the article it appeared on the screen behind her and Kara couldn't help but smile at both the perfect image and how she'd finally done something meaningful in her work at Catco.

She was further encouraged as a large grin spread across Ms Grant's face, a face in which she'd rarely seen any flicker of joy through her commonly held rugged façade. Looking at the picture she could really appreciate how fortunate, not only she, but their Earth was, to have 'The Flash' with them.

The picture itself depicted the bustling street outside the burnt building from earlier, showing the group of ash covered people receiving medical attention from the paramedics on scene. Despite the dire nature of the situation, smiles of relief could be seen on the faces of everyone in the background as they had been saved from the catastrophe. Within the chaos, Barry stood holding Emily safely in his arms with her clothes stricken with ash but a smile showing on her teary face as she embraced her saviour. Barry could be seen comforting the previously petrified girl and truly caring for the people of National City as his eyes shone with concern for everyone who had narrowly escaped a terrible fate.

Breaking her out of her train of thought, Ms Grant spoke up, "Well Kiera, I must say, I am glad I gave this assignment to you. Few reporters could write with the passion that you have, and you have a talent few can ever grasp. This will be on the front of magazines across the city tomorrow, you should be proud of what you have achieved. For now, go home and enjoy yourself." Ms Grant said before turning back to her computer and getting back to her own work.

Not wanting to push her bosses strange, but not unwelcome, kindness, Kara left the office and moved to her desk packing away her things into her leather satchel bag. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face and once she had her things in her bag she ran into Winn, who was just standing up from his desk, and caught him in an inhumanly tight hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kara repeated excitedly as Winn gasped exaggeratedly for air.

"What did I do?" Winn asked somewhat confused.

Kara responded by lightly slapping his arm then saying, "Telling Clark obviously you dummy. It was really great seeing my cousin today." Winn answered with a soft chuckle.

"You know that man keeps constant tabs on almost everything you do as both Kara and Supergirl. He does really care for you and I'd know given he keeps in touch with me to know if you're okay because if he asked you, you'd lie and pretend you're fine." Winn explained.

Kara blushed slightly at how accurate the description of what her response would be was and couldn't help but smile as she had started seeing how much her cousin really cared and was even more looking forward to seeing him more often and being closer.

"I've gotta go now, Ms Grant said I could go, and I don't want to push her kindness, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Kara said, excited to get home to her boyfriend and food.

"Cool, see you later Kara." Winn said giving her a last quick hug before Kara all but ran to the elevator.

As soon as Kara made it down to the lobby, she went around the building to an empty side street before taking off into the skies and towards her apartment. As she made it back, she went through the large bay window that she left unlocked and had altered to open enough to go in and out of. Making her way into the kitchen, Kara placed down her satchel, pulling out her laptop and phone and putting them on charge for later.

She then discarded her glasses on the kitchen counter and took off her jacket, letting her hair out of its bun and getting ready to relax after the long day. Finally, after only a few seconds at superspeed, done with her regular and instinctual routine upon getting home, Kara turned her attention to her surroundings.

What hit her first was the delicious smells that led her to the array of food laid out on the coffee table in front of the couch. There sat an array of take out, including pizza, potstickers, noodles and prawn crackers, there was also a couple bottles of ginger beer, her favourite drink, and hot buttery popcorn.

Seeing this not only made her stomach grumble in longing but also made her heart flutter as she thought of her boyfriend having prepared all this for them and getting all her favourite things. What she found next made her swoon as she noticed Barry snoring lightly on the couch, evidently having been exhausted as he waited for her, made apparent by the blanket spread across his lap that spread to one side where she could join him.

With a huge smile, Kara raced into her bedroom and got changed into some trackies and a singlet before snuggling next to Barry under the blanket on the couch. Lightly nudging Barry's side, Kara woke him from his impromptu nap, his bright green eyes shooting open in surprise as he looked at Kara.

Almost immediately, a bright smile matching Kara's own lit up his face and a blush adorned his cheeks as he realised how she had found him. Breaking him from his surprised stupor, Kara grabbed Barry's face in her hands and softly kissed his lips, Barry responding immediately as if awakened once again.

Breaking apart, the pair rested their foreheads together and simply smiled as they looked into one another's eyes. "Hey." Barry whispered quietly, breaking the comfortable silence between them.

"Hey there" Kara said before pecking him on the lips quickly, "Thank you for getting dinner, you know you didn't have to wait for me." Kara said as she looked at him lovingly, having moved her head away and snuggled into Barry's side, feeling safer than she had in a long while.

"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to. I also wanted to say thank you; thank you for being here for me when I needed you, thank you for giving me a place when I had nowhere, and most importantly, thank you for being my amazing girlfriend." Barry said with a voice filled with love and adoration.

Kara couldn't stop her heart from fluttering more than it ever had before and she felt happier than she had in a long time. Hugging him tighter she answered, "You don't have to thank me, I'm just as happy as you are to have you here with me. I feel like this is how it was meant to be, and I know it's only been a few days, and this is really weird, but being with you is the most comfortable feeling that I've ever felt."

The two just smiled at one another for a few minutes, occasionally giving one another a short kiss and enjoying the feeling of being with one another. Eventually the two spoke at the exact same moment and said the exact same thing, "Food?"

The two just laughed together before reaching over and beginning to eat whilst watching the TV together. Regardless of what was on, the super-couple paid little attention and instead just enjoyed the feeling of one another. Both of the superheroes had been through so much in their lives even before taking up the mantles of 'The Flash' and 'Supergirl', adding all their super-work on top of that, neither had been truly comfortable in a long time, constantly worried and fearing what was around the next bend in the road.

Simply having someone that they could be comfortable with was huge for both of them, but it was the fact that they knew that they didn't have to keep anything from one another and that they'd always be there for each other that allowed them to be so relaxed and peaceful. On top of that, the fact that the two who had accepted that they wouldn't find love and would instead spend their lives protecting their cities, but had found someone that they had fallen for so hard and so fast, even if neither realised the extent, was even more outstanding.

Overall, Kara and Barry had found something that they could cherish and fight for and both were looking forward to what the future would hold for once instead of fearing it. As a result, when the two drifted off after eating enough food for ten, they both had large smiles on their faces and couldn't wait for whatever was to come next, Kara not even realising that she hadn't told Barry about her article having simply gotten lost in his company.

The next morning came, and with it, two groaning superheroes who once again woke up in one another's arms on Kara's couch. Getting over their grogginess and despair at being awoken from their deep and peaceful slumber the two acknowledged their current situation and broke out into identical grins before kissing one another good morning. Breaking away, both looked at one another, smiles unfading.

It was only after a few minutes that either realised that they should probably get a start to the day given they both had to be in at work for Barry's first day. As such, realising this, Barry broke them from their trances, "We should probably get ready." He stated softly.

Nodding, Kara gave him a peck on the lips at superspeed as she left the room in a light gust of wind, racing into her bedroom and getting ready for the day. Only a few moments later she had re-entered the main area of the apartment, fully dressed for the day with a white and black polka dot dress shirt, turquoise sweater and black skirt. Her hair was straight and pulled back into a ponytail, her glasses sitting on her face comfortably and her bright smile still lighting up her face.

As she had left to get ready, Barry had sped into sped into some of the clothes they had gone out and bought for him, consisting of an open, red and black polar fleece shirt with a grey t-shirt underneath and a pair of tan chinos. After the couple seconds it took for him to do that, he got started on some omelettes for Kara and himself in the kitchen.

As Kara emerged, he couldn't help but broaden his smile, he could see how she tried to conceal herself and her extraordinary nature behind her visage as a quiet-spoken person. Despite that he saw how amazingly beautiful she was and couldn't help but feel so lucky to have her, only wishing, with a pang of pain, that he could share her with the family that had always been with him before they were ripped away.

Kara had similarly been amazed at how her boyfriend looked and smiled, loving the outfit that she had picked out for him. She had never been one for dressing up and caring about how she, or those around her, looked, but with Barry it felt so comfortable. She also couldn't help but smile as she saw him stare slightly at her and his smile widen. Alike with clothing, she had also cared little for her appearance beyond that of not being noticed but again found comfortable with herself around Barry and was joyful that he liked the way she looked even though she was dressed no differently than usual.

It came as a shocking and sorrowful reminder to her when she noticed Barry flinch and his eyes water slightly when he looked back at his cooking. In all of her happiness with their victory and having Barry back, and the rush of it all, she had forgotten how this all was for Barry. How he had lost his world and almost everyone he held dear.

Her own eyes watering, she hugged herself into Barry's side in a warm embrace, showing her support without the word he had likely, so often heard in his suffering. Barry's smile soon came back to his face and he wiped his tears away, returning Kara's embrace as he was reminded that despite what he had lost, he had a new start and a wonderful one at that. The pair silently broke apart after a few minutes in which Barry had finished cooking and served multiple omelettes on each of the two plates he had gotten ready. The silence between them was comfortable and despite the short held air of despair, the light had seemed to return to the room.

As the two sat at the kitchen counter, they began to talk about some of their favourite saves and things they loved about their powers, each enjoying a sort of company that they had previously had little to no of as superheroes. It was as they had almost finished their food that Kara finally realised that she had forgotten to tell Barry about the news from yesterday.

Almost bouncing with excitement as she remembered, Kara got Barry's attention, "I just remembered!" She half-yelled when Barry had finished telling her about one of his first saves as The Flash.

Rather than answering her, Barry simply looked at Kara with a somewhat confused expression, wondering what had fuelled the strange behaviour and curious as to what she had to say.

Answering the unspoken question, Kara continued, "I had some news yesterday, but I forgot after I got home." She explained, "After I had gotten back to work, Ms Grant called me into her office and told me that it was time I moved on from just being her assistant and gave me the task of writing Catco's first article on The Flash." Kara exclaimed excitedly.

Kara continued at her fast and excited pace, "I wrote the article and as I was finishing Kal, I mean Clark, dropped by with a picture he had taken when we were at the fire yesterday. I handed in the article and Ms Grant said that it was great and would be published in today's edition."

Joining Kara in her ecstatic smiling, Barry hugged her tightly, "That's so great Kara, I know you always wanted to be a reporter like your cousin and now you've been given the chance and smashed it. I'm really proud of you." Barry said honestly as Kara hugged him back, tighter than she normally would as she lost focus of her control, but Barry was fine given his advanced strength and healing.

Having finished their food, Kara rushed their plates into the dishwasher and grabbed her leather satchel that was packed with all her stuff for work from yesterday. Grabbing Barry's arm, she pulled him out the door, "C'mon, we can gotta get going for work and grab coffee on the way."

Barry just nodded, taking her hand from his arm into his own and joining her on their walk to work. Despite the fact that the two could just run/fly to Catco in moments they both wanted to enjoy each other's company for as long as they could with the added bonus of avoiding work.

On their way, Kara led Barry into Noonan's where she got coffee for herself and Ms Grant since she had started her work at Catco. As they waited in line to order their coffee, chatting about anything that came to mind as they enjoyed one simply being together, something caught Barry's eye, prompting him to tell Kara that he had to go to the bathroom quickly.

Heading into the bathroom, Barry phased out the back of the café and ran to a newsstand nearby, approaching normally, Barry bought a magazine with some of the money Kara had given him. He then made a quick trip to get one of the other things he needed before putting them away in a draw of Winn's empty desk at Catco before speeding back into Noonan's and emerging from the bathroom, joining Kara as she waited for the coffees.

The two had soon arrived at Catco with Coffees in hand and Kara was leaning against her desk as Barry faced her, sitting down on he chair. As the pair continued their argument that had arisen as to whether Star Wars was good or not, Kara liking it despite arguing against it as she complained about how it represented aliens, they were joined by Winn who seemed to come out of nowhere to the couple who were absorbed in one another's presence.

After Winn had put their argument to rest, having told Kara to stop complaining and accept that Star Wars is amazing, He had dragged Barry off to the desk opposite his own and begun getting him set up. As Winn was downloading some of the games, he often played given the simplicity of the work he has to do and how easy it is to get it all done, Barry used the distraction to move the things he had put into Winn's desk into his own without being noticed.

After Winn had finished getting him set up, not that it required much, the two had engaged into an in-depth conversation about the complexities of the multiverse, Winn nerding out about it and Barry explaining some of the thing he had discovered in the work he had done in research before coming here. Despite the fact that such conversations and science would raise eyebrows given that they were both just IT workers, neither had a problem given no one would have understood it anyway.

As they continued their discussion Winn came to realise how intelligent Barry was and upon inquiring as to what degrees he had done, Barry told him how his powers boosted his brain activity hugely giving him photographic memory and allowing him to learn rapidly. Winn as a result, only found Barry more amazing and the two had therefore decided unanimously to spend the rest of the morning talking about advanced theories and scientific discoveries that Barry had made in dark matter and multiverse energy that would be completely ground-breaking if published.

It was through that, that the pair came to the discussion of Barry's ideas on a technology and research company, Winn realising how Barry, given his intelligence and powers could even singlehandedly invent things to change the world and almost as excited as Barry himself for all the opportunities it could represent. Having entered university, himself wanting to invent things, Winn had been disappointed by how difficult such opportunities were to find in the outside world, especially when those running such companies were the likes of Maxwell Lord and Lex Luthor.

As the two geeked out, Kara listened in at the start and smiled at how well they were getting on and knowing that Barry had someone else as well as her that he would be able to rely on here on his new Earth. She was soon drawn away from their conversation that she could only grasp half of when she heard the sounds of Ms Grant's arrival and use of her private elevator. Quickly and subtly, she heated her bosses coffee to the temperature that she liked using her heat vision before standing ready beside her desk, in front of Ms Grant's office.

"Ding." The sound of the private elevator arriving on their level reverberated throughout the room as people across the floor focussed on their work and quietened their discussions to avoid the wrath of the feared 'Queen of all media' that was about to enter.

As the doors opened on the private elevator, Ms Grant emerged in her usual strut, instinctually grabbing the coffee held out by Kara as she passed telling her, "Into my office now Kiera."

Not wanting to disappoint or anger her boss, Kara was quick to follow her into her office, closing the door behind her before standing in front of her desk at which her boss was then seated. "Good morning Ms Grant, What can I do for you?" Kara said politely in a more chipper voice than usual, reflecting the recent changes in her life for the better.

"As energetic as usual I see." Her boss stated in a semi-faked exasperated voice as per usual, "Unfortunately it is time for you to pack your desk Ms Danvers." She said in a more serious tone.

Shocked, Kara panicked, hundreds of thoughts flashing through her mind as to what had happened to get her fired, leading her to believe her article from yesterday wasn't as good as she'd thought and been led to believe. "Ms Grant, I'm so sorry for what I've done, If my article wasn't good, I promise I won't write again, I'll work harder, I'll do better. I promise." Kara spit out at a rapid pace as her worry began to consume her. She loved her work here and despite her rough demeanour she did appreciate her boss for her skill and concealed kindness. She also didn't want to leave because this work was all she had known since she came to National City and she didn't want to leave Winn, and now Barry as well. On top of all that was her desire to become a reporter and do something real as Kara as well as Supergirl, just as Barry desired himself, and she was devastated that this could be her only opportunity that she was losing.

"No need to get all riled up Danvers, you'll be packing your things into this box and following me." She said as she stood u, shoving a cardboard box into Kara's hands as she passed. Coming to a stop beside her desk, Kara didn't want to push her boss and rapidly cleared her desk into the box, items including a picture of her, Lois and Clark and another of her Eliza and Danvers. Other than that, she only had a small pot plant, a pen holder and a few novelty toys Winn had given her.

Seeing her finish packing her things, Ms Grants moved off down a hallway with Kara rushing after her, noticing Winn and Barry looking over at her with curious expressions to which she answered with a shake of her head, mouthing 'later', to which they nodded. As she followed Ms Grant down the hallway, she was led into a small room that upon entering, Kara identified as an empty office. Looking curiously at Ms Grant, she prompted an explanation, "Listen now Kara because I won't say this often." Ms Grant said, drawing Kara's undivided attention after hearing her name properly addressed for the first time from her boss, "You have done amazing work since beginning here and have, by far, been the best assistant I've had. For a while now I have known that it was time for you to move on and yesterday you proved that. Your article was outstanding, and I look forward to seeing more like it in later publications of Catco. As such I present you with your new office, reporter Danvers, and you shall report to Snapper tomorrow to begin your new pathway. Your final task today as my secretary is to find me a suitable replacement." Ms Grant finished, not once breaking from her stony appearance despite the kindness that Kara observed shining through her eyes.

Kara could only cover her mouth as some tears filled her eyes, although she wouldn't allow them to fall. Looking around what she now realised was her own office she was once again shocked this morning, but unlike before, this shock left an aftermath of delight and joy and if not for her boss in front of her she would have squealed as she raced down the hall to tell Barry and Winn. Instead she schooled her expression and replied, "Of course Ms Grant. Thank you for giving me this opportunity and I won't let you down. I'll have a new assistant ready for you tomorrow morning."

"Good, I'll see you later Kiera." Ms Grant said simply, returning back to her usually name for her, as she turned and left the office. After she had left, Kara sat down at her desk for a while just absorbing what had happened, once she came back from her thoughts she got started on looking through applicants for jobs at Catco and found someone who she believed would be suitable for the role of Ms Grant, setting up a meeting to make sure that afternoon.

Once she had finished, she texted Barry and Winn, telling them to see her in the room down the hall where her office was located. She was soon joined by the two who had the same curious faces as before when they saw her sitting down at the desk. Kara then explained to the two what had happened and both of them congratulated her, giving her a hug before Winn started setting up some of the knickknacks, he had gotten her on her desk in a neat row as she put up her photos and the pot plant.

As the two finished what they were doing, they realised that Barry wasn't there and were about to ask one another about it, before they could though, they were interrupted by the swooshing of Barry's re-entry into the office, hands laden with a bag of bagels and another of donuts. All three of them smiles as they sat around the office and ate the food whilst Kara gushed about some of the stories that she had wanted to write and now could.

The three had ended up spending a large portion of the day chatting together as they were completely distracted from their work by the mornings event. As the afternoon wore on Kara had to get the boys to leave as she was soon greeted by Eve Teschmacher, the woman that she had planned an interview with for the position of Ms Grants assistant. The interview went well and Kara had informed Eve that she would be starting work the next morning to which she nervous and timid girl had been excited by, thanking Kara profusely for the opportunity.

After the interview, Kara messaged her cousin, telling him the news of her new position which led to a lengthy discussion that brought her to the end of the day. As she was packing up she looked out the window that made up one side of her office and viewed out over the city that she had become the protector of. Smiling as the comforting, orange glow of the sunset warmed her skin, Kara began putting her things away in her satchel, looking forward to getting back home with Barry and snuggling up to her boyfriend again. As she was putting the bag over her shoulder she was interrupted by the opening of her door.

As the person entered, Kara identified them as Barry, causing a wide grin to break out across her face. "How was you first day?" Kara asked excitedly.

"This job is great, Winn and I geeked out about a bunch of things and he could keep up with most of the science that I was talking about. I only had to fix two computers downstairs which were both simple to repair." Barry said with a mischievous smirk as he basically announced that he had done practically no work all day.

Smiling at her boyfriends happiness to be there, Kara was then caught off as she noticed that he was holding something behind his back, opting out of just x-raying it, she instead questioned Barry, "And what would it be you're hiding behind your back?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and suspicious look on her face.

Barry laughed at her expression before bring his hands in front of him, revealing what he had gone to get that morning as he explained, "I went and got this for you when I went to the bathroom this morning at the café. I didn't realise that you would be getting an office of your own, but I guess that just makes it more suitable. So here you go, your first article to display in your new office."

Barry handed over the framed Catco magazine that he had prepared that depicted the front page showing the picture of him that Clark had supplied, along with the title of Kara's article and her name on the by-line beneath. Gasping in surprise that Barry had done this for her, Kara grabbed him in a tight hug that would cause any normal person discomfort, and Barry returned it, smiling with radiant happiness.

Pulling away, Kara took the picture frame from Barry's hands and inspected it more closely, having not seen her own published article yet that day and being amazed once again that she had done that. Smiling even bigger Kara hung the picture frame on a nail that stuck out from the wall beside her desk at head height that she realised Barry must have put there that morning before he had rushed out for food.

Rather than talking, Kara grabbed her boyfriend in a loving kiss before wrapping her arm in his and guiding them out of her office and on their way home. Despite the interruption of stopping a bank robbery together and stopping a building fire whilst saving the people inside, Kara and Barry enjoyed their night together watching TV before Kara had dragged Barry off to her bed where they fell asleep, exhausted after the long day and happy to fall asleep beside one another.

**And there's another Chapter down, I hope you enjoyed it.**

**As usual please feel free to review, whatever it is you have to say I'd love to hear it.**

**I was also wondering whether any of you wanted Barry to stick around at Catco for long before starting up his ****business?**

**Finally, what other heroes do you want me to include on Earth 38, like Batman Wonder-woman etc. ?**

**That's All Folks, Thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter hopefully :)**


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